Demokratiska utmaningar hos de nordiska länderna 2002-2011

Kirjoittajat

• Thomas Denk
• Daniel Silander

Abstrakti

The Nordic states are traditionally regarded as consolidated and stabile democracies. Most indexes on democracy and democratization set out the Nordic states as some of the most advanced democracies in the world. These states have a reputation of being good providers of political rights and civil liberties for their people. While most studies on conditions for rights and liberties have focused on less democratic states, this article explores potential democratic challenges within the Nordic consolidated democracies based on statistics provided by the Freedom House Index. It is argued that there are democratic challenges in two dimensions of civil liberties: the rule of law and personal autonomy. However, these challenges of civil liberties are only found in two of the Nordic states, Denmark and Iceland, both with continuing limitations in civil liberties over the last years. In addition, this study also identifies three contexts in which these democratic challenges are prominent. While international insecurity has had impact on all Nordic states countries, immigration challenges have been more prominent in Denmark compared to years of economic stress in Iceland. These results shed new light on the traditional knowledge about the Nordic states being consolidated democracies without democratic challenges.