NORDIC MODEL OF SOCIAL DEMOCRACY

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In the recently held election in Sweden, the Social Democrats returned to power as the single largest party.
The core issue of the election was around immigration, Several voters have expressed their concerns about rising immigrant violence and control of crime.

The SD has taken a harsh position against immigrants by promising to make it extremely difficult for asylum seekers to enter the country.

Sweden allowed refugees from Syrian, Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2010s.

The rise of the Sweden Democrats (SD), a party with origins in the neo-Nazi movement, is seen as a threat to the Nordic Model.

Nordic Model

The Nordic model or “democratic socialism”. Socialism and social democracy are political-economic systems in the Scandinavian countries.
- The term “socialism” is associated with the Communist bloc, which had the ownership of the major means of production, a one-party system, and an ideological basis for rule on behalf of the working class.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, new socialist regimes emerged that distanced themselves from the one-party model, and shifted focus on market economies, while emphasizing redistribution of wealth.
- Ruling parties in Venezuela, Bolivia and Chile, can be termed “democratic socialist” as they seek to achieve socialist goals of redistribution in vastly unequal and elite-driven systems.
In the Scandinavian countries, the systems are more like typical “social democracies”;
- Their dependence on representative and participatory democratic institutions where separation of powers is ensured.
- A comprehensive social welfare scheme with a focus on publicly provided social services and investment in child care, education and research among others.
- The presence of strong labour market institutions with active labour unions and employer associations allows for effective collective bargaining, wage negotiation, etc.
The Nordic countries or Scandinavian countries: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland are among the most high-income countries in the world).
All the Nordic countries follow a capitalist model of development; encourage entrepreneurism and funding of welfare policies through wage taxation and corporate taxes.
- Education is free in all the Nordic States.
- Health care is free in Denmark and Finland and partially free in Norway.
- In Sweden and Iceland; workers get several benefits — from unemployment insurance to old age pensions, besides effective child care.
- Labour participation rates in these countries are among the highest in the world (even among women).
These countries have high levels of international trade and participation in globalisation, economic progress, and low levels of inequality and high living standards.
- In the most recent United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report, Norway ranked 2nd, Iceland at 4th, Denmark at 6th, Sweden at 7th and Finland at 11.
- The Nordic countries ranked the highest in various indices on press freedom across the world and in indices measuring gender equality.
- They were placed among the top 20 countries in GDP per capita (PPP, $) according to the World Bank’s recent data.
One of the important reasons for the successful social democratic model in the Nordic countries has been their relatively smaller and more homogenous populations facilitating focused governance.
The “corporatist” model of involving interests of both capital and labour, mediated by the government at many levels, has allowed these countries to transition from agrarian to industrial to post-industrial (in some cases) and knowledge/service economies relatively smoothly.
The Nordic model of social democracy offers lessons to the developing world, including countries like India despite the various complexities of diversities, differential internal development and histories.

Related News

The V-Dem Institute at Sweden’s University of Gothenburg has released its annual democracy report.
The title of the report is ‘Democracy Report 2022: Autocratisation Changing Nature?’
The report classified the countries into 4 categories based on their score in the Liberal Democratic Index (LDI):
- Liberal Democracy
- Electoral Democracy
- Electoral Autocracy
- Closed Autocracy
It classifies India as an electoral autocracy ranking it 93rd on the LDI, out of 179 countries.
- India is one of the top ten ‘autocratisers’ in the world.
One of the main reasons for Autocratisation is “toxic polarization”, a dominant trend in 40 countries, as opposed to 5 countries that showed rising polarization in 2011.
According to the report, the level of democracy enjoyed by the average global citizen in 2021 is down to 1989 levels, with the democratic gains of the post-Cold War period eroding rapidly in the last few years.

Key findings of the report

Sweden topped the LDI index. Denmark, Norway, Costa Rica and New Zealand make up the top 5 in liberal democracy rankings.
Autocratisation is spreading rapidly, with a record of 33 countries autocratising.
2021 saw a record 6 coups, resulting in 4 new autocracies: Chad, Guinea, Mali and Myanmar.
The Number of liberal democracies stood at 42 in 2012, their number has shrunk to its lowest level in over 25 years, with just 34 countries and 13% of the world population living in liberal democracies.
Closed autocracies, or dictatorships, rose from 25 to 30 between 2020 and 2021.
The world today has 89 democracies and 90 autocracies.
Electoral autocracy remains the most common regime type, accounting for 60 countries and 44% of the world population or 3.4 billion people.
Electoral democracies were the second most common regime, accounting for 55 countries and 16% of the world population.
The report identified “misinformation” as a key tool deployed by autocratising governments to sharpen polarization and shape domestic and international opinion.
Repression of civil society and censorship of media were other favoured tools of autocratic regimes.
The report also found that eroding autonomy of the electoral management body in 25 countries.
Key findings about India
- With the ranking of 93rd in the LDI, India figures in the “bottom 50%” of countries.
- In South Asia, India is ranked below Sri Lanka (88), Nepal (71), Bhutan (65) and above Pakistan (117) in the LDI.
- One of the main reasons behind Autocratisation is “toxic polarization”; defined as a phenomenon that erodes respect for counter-arguments.