Leaving the Nordic Path? The Changing Role of Danish Trade Unions in the Welfare Reform Process

For a long period, Denmark has been labeled a ‘model country’ with a comprehensive welfare state and a successful model of corporatist policy-making. Danish unions are considered amongst the strongest in the world, and they have for a long time been a distinct part of the political system, and as social partners, they were strongly integrated into decision-making processes. The analysis of the Danish welfare and labour market policy during the last two decades documents a profound change in the arrangement and in the status of the social partners (especially unions) in the Danish political system. The results show that two important pillars of the Danish model – the social partner basis and the collective trust in partnership – are eroding. Unions are no longer part of the law-making process and, since 2007, they are formally excluded from the organization of the decision-making process. Recent developments point at weaker unions that operate more as lobbyists instead of being strong corporatist institutions or part of the decision-making process. The results of the study are thought-provoking and the basis for a revised thinking of the Danish and the Nordic model.