Danskerne, magten og demokratiet
(The Danes, Power and Democracy)

By Palle Svensson, Department of Political Science, University of Aarhus was published in April 2004

70 p., DKK 95.00
Order at Aarhus University Press: www.unipress.dk or +45 8942 5370
 

This comparative study of the Danes’ views of power and democracy in 1979 and 2001 shows that they have changed quite a bit since the late 1970s.

The political climate after the end of the cold war has been characterized by increased individualization and rejection of collective solutions. This new zeitgeist has rubbed off on the Danes’ perception of power. The analysis shows that Danish society’s particular understanding of power as disseminated and without specific power concentrations has been strengthened over the past 20-25 years. However, there is also a significant share of the population that sees a gradual transfer of power from the Danish authorities to the EU.

For the Danes, democracy is more than a political form of government with liberal minority guarantees. They also include society’s social and economic sides in their perceptions of democracy. Especially the social perception of democracy has grown stronger over the past 20-25 years and can now be characterized as the most prominent democracy perception.

While perceptions of the distribution of power have changed in accordance with the zeitgeist, the perceptions of democracy seem less affected by the new political climate.


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