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This book presents twenty-three in-depth case studies of successful public policies and programs in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Iceland.
List of contents
- 1: Caroline de la Porte, Guðný Björk Eydal, Jaakko Kauko, Daniel Nohrstedt, Paul 't Hart, and Bent Sofus Tranøy: Introduction: Studying Successful Public Policy in the Nordic Countries
- Part I Denmark Successes
- 2: Carsten Daugbjerg and Yonatan Schvartzman: Organic Food and Farming Policy in Denmark: Promoting a Transition to Green Growth
- 3: Rinie van Est: The Success of Danish Wind Energy Innovation Policy: Combining Visionary Politics and Pragmatic Policy Making
- 4: Trine P. Larsen and Caroline de la Porte: Early childhood education and care in Denmark: A Social Investment Success
- 5: Fritz von Nordheim and Jon Kvist: "Living Longer, Working Longer": An Unlikely Retirement Policy Success?
- 6: Peter Triantafillou: Cancer Treatment Policy in Denmark
- Part II Norway Successes
- 7: Mari Teigen: Gender Quotas for Corporate Boards: A Qualified Success in Changing Male Dominance in the Boardroom
- 8: Jostein Askim: Student Financing for Social Equity in Norway, 1947-2020
- 9: Paul Bjerke, Birgitte Kjos Fonn, and Lars Julius Halvorsen: Promoting and Democratising Literature: A Norwegian Policy Success
- 10: Camilla Bakken Øvald and Bent Sofus Tranøy: Negotiating Dilemmas of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund
- Part III Sweden Successes
- 11: Andreas Bergh: An All Too Successful Reform? The 1997 Overhaul of the Swedish Budget Process
- 12: Roger Hildingsson and Åsa Knaggård: The Swedish Carbon Tax: A Resilient Success
- 13: Ann-Zofie Duvander and Sofie Cedstrand: Gender Equal Parental Leave Use in Sweden: The Success of the Reserved Months
- 14: Douglas Brommesson, Ann-Marie Ekengren, and Anna Michalski: Sweden's Policy of Neutrality: Success Through Flexibility?
- 15: Paula Blomqvist: The Swedish Child Vaccination Program
- Part IV Iceland Successes
- 16: Ásthildur Elva Bernharðsdóttir and Steinunn Hrafnsdóttir: Civil Protection Policies in Iceland: Collaboration Between Authorities and Volunteer Organizations
- 17: Brynhildur Davíðsdóttir: Towards an Icelandic Renewable and Sustainable Energy System
- 18: Ásdís Aðalbjörg Arnalds, Guðný Björk Eydal, and Ingólfur V. Gíslason: Paid Parental Leave in Iceland: Increasing Gender Equality at Home and on the Labour Market Through Paid Earmarked Parental Leave
- 19: Bent Sofus Tranøy and Throstur Olaf Sigurjonsson: Back From the Brink: Iceland's Successful Economic Recovery
- Part V Finland Successes
- 20: Ella Näsi and Karoliina Koskenvuo: The Finnish Baby Box: From a Volunteer Initiative to a Renown Social Security Benefit
- 21: Jaakko Kauko, Hannele Pitkänen, and Janne Varjo: Quality in Finnish Comprehensive Schools: Entrenching Enhancement-led Evaluation
- 22: Jarkko Kosonen and Juha Mälkki: The Finnish Model of Conscription: A Successful Policy to Organize National Defence
- 23: Anne Maria Holli: Gender Quotas for Municipal Executive Bodies in Finland
- 24: Kirsi Juhila, Suvi Raitakari, and Johanna Ranta: Housing First: Combatting Long-term Homelessness in Finland
About the author
Caroline de la Porte is Professor of European and Comparative Social Policy at Copenhagen Business School. She is a leading scholar in the Europeanization of welfare states. She is particularly interested in why, how, and with which effects EU policy and law influences welfare state reform in member states. In recent years, her work has also focused on Nordic public policies, especially in the area of family policy.
Guðný Björk Eydal is Professor at the Faculty of Social Work, University of Iceland. Her main research field is social, family, and child-care policies in the Nordic countries. Currently, Eydal is directing a long-term research project on the outcome of the paid parental leave legislation in Iceland. She has also been directing a Nordic research project in the field of disaster studies, 'The Nordic Welfare Watch in Response to Changes'.
Daniel Nohrstedt is Professor of Political Science at the Department of Government at Uppsala University, Sweden, where he also serves as research coordinator in the Centre of Natural Hazards and Disaster Science (CNDS). His research interests include policy processes in comparative perspective, policy-making after extreme events, and collaborative governance.
Jaakko Kauko is Professor of Education Policy at the Faculty of Education and Culture, Tampere University, where he co-leads the research group EduKnow (Knowledge, Power, and Politics in Education). His research focuses on the fields of education policy and comparative education. He is currently leading the Academy of Finland-funded project 'Transnational Knowledge Networks in Higher Education Policymaking'.
Paul 't Hart is Professor of Public Administration at Utrecht University. His research interests include positive public administration, political and public service leadership, crisis management, and group dynamics in government.
Bent Sofus Tranøy is Professor of Political Science at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences and at Kristiania University College. He has published in the fields of comparative and international political economy, public policy, organization theory, qualitative methods, and history of science. He was previously employed as a post doc and Associate Professor at the University of Oslo.
Summary
This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.
This book presents twenty-three in-depth case studies of successful public policies and programs in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Iceland. Each chapter tells the story of the policy's origins, aims, design, decision-making, and implementation processes, and assesses in which respects - programmatically, process-wise, politically, and over time - and to what extent it can be considered to have been successful. It also points towards the driving forces of success, and the challenges that have had to be overcome to achieve it. Combined, the chapters provide a resource for researchers, educators, and students of public policy both within and beyond the Nordic region.
