Ebook: The Oxford Handbook of Danish Politics

This is the most comprehensive and thorough English language book on Danish politics ever. It is written by fifty authors, each of whom is an expert in and has contributed to the field that they write about. And why is Denmark an interesting topic for a handbook? In some respects, Danish political institutions and political life are similar to that of other small, North European countries such as the other Scandinavian countries and The Netherlands. However, in other respects, Danish politics is interesting in its own right. For instance, Denmark has a world record in minority governments. According to standard scholarly knowledge, this should result in unstable governments and a bad economy. This is not the case, however, since Denmark has a rather stable political system and a strong and robust economy among the strongest in Europe. The Danes have continued reservations towards the EU despite close to 50 years of EC/EU membership, and the Danes rejected the Maastricht Treaty in 1992. Still, the EU issue is handled in ways that do not call for large political battles. Also Denmark used to be known as a tolerant and liberal society; its Jews were almost all saved during the German occupation of the Second World War; it was the first country to legalize pornography and formally register same-sex couples. Yet recent Danish politics has also been associated with xenophobia and anti-Muslim sentiments. The handbook provides the reader with a detailed knowledge and understanding of almost all aspects of Danish politics.