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Public Governance in Denmark

Meeting the Global Mega-Challenges of the 21st Century?

Peter Triantafillou editor Andreas Hagedorn Krogh editor Annika Agger editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Emerald Publishing Limited

Published:23rd Feb '22

Should be back in stock very soon

Public Governance in Denmark cover

Societies all over the world are facing a host of daunting problems, including poverty, persistent unemployment, income inequality, unequal distribution of political power and participation, ageing populations, uncontrolled migration, and climate change. Public Governance in Denmark: Meeting the Global Mega-Challenges of the 21st Century? provides a nuanced account of how Denmark handles these urgent societal problems.

Offering up-to-date academic analysis of Danish public governance, this edited volume encourages an informed and balanced debate about formulating and adopting political reform with reference to ‘the Danish model’. The authors explore how recent public governance changes have turned the Danish welfare state into a mix of a neo-Weberian state and an enabling state, deploying its considerable resources to create economic growth for the benefit of most Danes, satisfying the needs of citizens and businesses, and developing collaborative solutions to complex problems. Still, not all Danish policy changes have been successful and evolving problems require further reforms in the years to come.

Public Governance in Denmark will be of great interest to students and scholars within the fields of public administration, governance, policy and politics as well as policy professionals engaged in analyzing, designing, and evaluating public policies and governance strategies.

Denmark has become a fabled—some might say infamous--benchmark for effective democratic governance. This book takes us deep inside the Danish system of governing and shows how it is responding to twenty-first century “mega-challenges.” We learn why the Danish model of governance has managed to produce enviable social equality, problem-solving and citizen trust even as it must confront serious challenges from rising inequality, climate change, and immigration. The balanced chapters acknowledge the warts of the Danish model, while demolishing any claim that positive government and citizen freedom are antagonistic agendas. A contemporary Shakespeare might say that there is something worth emulating in the state of Denmark.

-- Professor Christopher Ansell, University of California, Berkeley, USA

Anyone curious about the ‘Danish model’ of public governance will learn much from this well-crafted edited collection. This book brings in-depth understanding and thoughtful analysis to examining five mega-challenges facing states and societies in the early 21st century. A critical path to uncovering why Denmark ‘works’ is combined with an eye on ensuring that historical contextual factors are not forgotten. This is an excellent book that demonstrates clearly what is to be admired about Denmark, without losing sight of the challenges still faced by it and other democracies.

-- Professor Jenny M Lewis, The University of Melbourne, Australia.

This timely book offers a critical analysis of the Danish model of public governance. It addresses contemporary political reforms in Denmark which has turned the Danish welfare state into a mix of a neo-Weberian state and an enabling state. Areas like equality, democracy, public sector effectiveness, climate change, biodiversity, demographic changes, and immigration are covered. It is a major accomplishment and a must read for practitioners in public sector reforms, scholars and students alike.

-- Professor Emeritus Per Lægreid, University of Bergen, Nor

ISBN: 9781800437135

Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 20mm

Weight: 501g

280 pages