https://tidsskrift.dk/politica/issue/feed 2025-04-11T09:29:48+02:00 Annette Bruun Andersen annette@ps.au.dk Open Journal Systems <p>The journal Politica is a Danish scientific journal of political science. It is published by members of staff at Institute of Political Science at Aarhus University and University of Southern Denmark. The journal is accessible at tidsskrift.dk from 1968 till 2001.<br><br><br></p> https://tidsskrift.dk/politica/article/view/150400 2024-10-23T14:00:45+02:00 Emmy Hjort-Enemark Topholm emht@vive.dk Anne Mette Møller ammo.ioa@cbs.dk Martin Sandberg Buch mabu@vive.dk

<p>Danish municipal elderly care is facing significant challenges, including recruitment issues. Inspired by the successful Dutch Buurtzorg model, central government has allocated funds to support local innovation. Based on translation theory and grounded in 50 qualitative interviews involving 159 individuals in 25 municipalities, this article analyzes how the Buurtzorg model is translated in a Danish elderly care context. On a policy level, Buurtzorg is translated from a complex organizational model into an idea of permanent, interdisciplinary and self-managing teams. Municipalities’ local translations of these core elements encounter challenges, including resistance from frontline workers and unchanged framework conditions. This results in significant variation but relatively minor changes, indicating incremental change rather than innovation, and raises the question of how central government can best support local innovation.</p>

2025-04-11T00:00:00+02:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Politica https://tidsskrift.dk/politica/article/view/150401 2024-10-23T14:06:13+02:00 Andreas Holt Rafn andreashrafn@gmail.com Filip Strunge Steffensen filipsteffensen@outlook.com

<p>Over the years, the public has increasingly discussed the role of civil servants in a modern democracy: To what extent can they assist their politicians, and how firmly should they insist on their bureaucratic norms when political demands go against it? A number of studies have looked into this aspect at the state level, but surprisingly few have empirically investigated the Danish regional level. This is puzzling, because there is reason to believe that the low politicization of the Danish regional level influences how civil servants act. Therefore we investigate the role of the civil servant based on 33 interviews with politicians and high ranking civil servants. We find that this role, at the regional level, differs from what former studies have found at the state level. We find that the limited demand for political-tactical advice means that civil servants rarely experience gray zones between bureaucratic norms and responsiveness. Similarly, there are rarely any occasions where political demands challenge their professional competency.</p>

2025-04-11T00:00:00+02:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Politica https://tidsskrift.dk/politica/article/view/150402 2024-10-23T14:10:38+02:00 Jakob Laage-Thomsen j.l.thomsen@sosgeo.uio.no Helene Friis Ratner helr@edu.au.dk

<p>In the period 2020-2022, the Government, Danish Municipalities (KL), and Danish Regions invested in 40 "signature projects" aimed at gaining experience with artificial intelligence (AI) in the public sector. This article utilizes an expanded typology from the framework of "algorithmic regulation" to investigate what forms of algorithmic regulation the signature projects represent and how AI is developed to support and/or automate decisions in the Danish public administration. The analysis contributes conceptually and empirically to the existing literature by (a) developing an expanded typology to classify AI as regulation and decision automation and (b) demonstrating the connection between regulatory and automated decision forms across all Danish AI signature projects. This opens a nuanced discussion of how AI promotes different forms of algorithmic regulation and decision automation in various administrative areas, and the implications of this for the relationship between the state and the citizen.</p>

2025-04-11T00:00:00+02:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Politica https://tidsskrift.dk/politica/article/view/150403 2024-10-23T14:14:48+02:00 Kristoffer Skovgaard Jensen ksj@ps.au.dk

<p>Public opinion and the responsiveness of the elected political parties are essential for a modern democracy to function. But to what extent do political parties play a part in the formation of public opinion, and is the party influence independent of ideological direction? In this article, I argue that citizens use their partisanship as a social group identity, which enables them to adopt the party’s policy opinions. By examining a survey experiment conducted with more than 3000 Danish voters (771 social democratic voters), this article finds that social democratic voters express more conservative (liberal) opinions when they are exposed to conservative (liberal) party cues from the Social Democratic Party. By disentangling party and ideology, the research design in this article offers the opportunity to examine party influence on public opinion in both ideological directions in a realistic Danish context.</p>

2025-04-11T00:00:00+02:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Politica https://tidsskrift.dk/politica/article/view/153266 2025-02-14T10:42:16+01:00 Troels Fage Hedegaard troelsfh@dps.aau.dk Kristian Kongshøj kongshoj@dps.aau.dk

<p>Nuclear power has returned to the political agenda in Denmark after being out in the cold since 1985. In this article, we investigate Danes’ attitudes to nuclear power with a survey from 2022 and historical election surveys from 1979 and 1981. The results demonstrate well-known differences across gender and party choice in all years. In 2022, we also find that those who are least worried about climate support nuclear power most. We also find indications of a cohort effect in the sense that Danes who were in their “formative years” when the debate last occurred are more critical of nuclear power. This is most pronounced among climate-concerned and left-wing voters in this age cohort. Opposition to nuclear power from these groups is markedly weaker among the youngest, whose opinions were shaped during a time when nuclear power is being discussed as a solution in climate policy.</p>

2025-04-11T00:00:00+02:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Politica https://tidsskrift.dk/politica/article/view/153268 2025-02-14T10:52:38+01:00 Peter Heyn Nielsen pheynn@ruc.dk

<p>Central cabinet committees constitute the core of Danish cabinets but are seldom subject to quantitative political science studies. In this article, I focus on individual ministers and their policymaking role depending on whether they are members of such committees or not. For the years 1995-2023, I examine whether the share of total public expenditures for certain portfolios increase if the responsible minister has been member of either the Finance Committee or the Coordination Committee. The analysis shows a significant positive effect for ministers’ membership in central cabinet committees – especially membership of the Finance Committee. This indicates that permanent committee members enjoy significantly better opportunities for making a political impact as ministers than their colleagues in the cabinet. The results contribute substantially to our understanding of ministers’ role in policymaking and cabinet decision making processes.</p>

2025-04-11T00:00:00+02:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Politica https://tidsskrift.dk/politica/article/view/153270 2025-02-14T11:09:04+01:00 Marc Sabatier Hvidkjær marchvidkjaer@fas.harvard.edu Martin Vinæs Larsen mvl@ps.au.dk

<p>Local politicians play a pivotal role in Danish democracy, but we know little about how well they represent their constituents. This is difficult to study, as it requires comparable data on the political preferences of politicians and voters. We overcome this issue by comparing the attitudes of local politicians on a wide range of local political items given to a Voting Advice Application before the 2021 municipal election to a nationally representative survey we fielded in 2023 (n = 28,817). We find a strong relationship between citizen and politician preferences across local issues and municipalities. We also examine whether homeowners are better represented than renters. This is not the case, as owners and renters mostly agree on local policy and are represented proportionally to their share of the population.</p>

2025-04-11T00:00:00+02:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Politica https://tidsskrift.dk/politica/article/view/153272 2025-02-14T11:17:24+01:00 Peter Triantafillou triant@ruc.dk Flemming Juul Christiansen fjc@ruc.dk

<p>The audit reports of the Danish National Audit Office are essential for public and parliamentary control of the government and the state’s use of public funds. According to the academic literature, the oversight function of national audit offices depends on their subordination to parliament rather than to the government. However, there are very few empirical studies of this thesis. This study examines whether the transfer of the Danish National Audit Office in 1991 from the Ministry of Economic Affairs to the Folketing has contributed to making the audit reports more critical and to increasing the Folketing’s use of these reports to ask the government critical questions. The study suggests that the transfer has contributed to making the reports more critical. However, the transfer has not had any clear impact on the Folketing’s use of the reports.</p>

2025-04-11T00:00:00+02:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Politica https://tidsskrift.dk/politica/article/view/153261 2025-02-14T09:51:19+01:00 Emmy Hjort-Enemark Topholm emht@vive.dk Anne Mette Møller ammo.ioa@cbs.dk Martin Sandberg Buch mabu@vive.dk

<p>Den danske kommunale ældrepleje står over for store udfordringer med rekruttering og fragmentering. Staten forsøger derfor at understøtte innovation gennem udbud af puljemidler, der inviterer kommunerne til at lade sig inspirere af den succesfulde nederlandske Buurtzorg-model. Med udgangspunkt i oversættelsesteori og baseret på 50 kvalitative interview med 159 forskellige personer i 25 kommuner analyserer artiklen oversættelsen af Buurtzorg-modellen i en dansk kontekst. På policyniveau er Buurtzorg blevet oversat fra en kompleks organisationsmodel til en idé om faste, tværfaglige og selvstyrende teams. I oversættelsen af disse ikkedefinerede kerneelementer møder kommunerne udfordringer, herunder modstand fra frontlinjemedarbejdere og uændrede rammevilkår. Resultatet er stor variation, men relativt små forandringer, altså inkrementel forandring snarere end innovation. Det rejser spørgsmålet, hvordan statslige puljemidler bedst understøtter lokal innovation.</p>

2025-04-11T00:00:00+02:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Politica https://tidsskrift.dk/politica/article/view/153262 2025-02-14T09:55:44+01:00 Jakob Laage-Thomsen j.l.thomsen@sosgeo.uio.no Helene Friis Ratner helr@edu.au.dk

<p>I perioden 2020-2022 investerede regeringen, KL og Danske Regioner i 40 ”signaturprojekter” med henblik på at skabe erfaringer med kunstig intelligens (AI) i den offentlige sektor. Artiklen anvender en udvidet typologi fra frameworket ”algoritmisk regulering” til at undersøge, hvilken form for algoritmisk regulering signaturprojekterne er udtryk for, og hvordan AI udvikles til at understøtte og automatisere beslutninger i den danske offentlige forvaltning. Analysen bidrager konceptuelt og empirisk til den eksisterende litteratur ved at (a) udvikle en udvidet typologi til at klassificere AI som regulering og automatisering af beslutninger og (b) vise sammenhængen mellem regulerings- og beslutningsstøtteformer på tværs af samtlige danske AI signaturprojekter. Det åbner op for en nuanceret diskussion af, hvordan AI fremmer forskellige former for algoritmisk regulering og beslutningsautomatisering på forskellige forvaltningsområder samt implikationerne af dette for relationen mellem stat og borger.</p>

2025-04-11T00:00:00+02:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Politica https://tidsskrift.dk/politica/article/view/153263 2025-02-14T10:01:56+01:00 Filip Strunge Steffensen filipsteffensen@outlook.com Andreas Holt Rafn andreashrafn@gmail.com

<p>I de seneste år har offentligheden diskuteret, hvad embedsmændenes rolle er i et moderne demokrati. Hvor meget kan de hjælpe deres politikere med, og hvor stædigt skal de insistere på deres faglighed, når de politiske ønsker går på kant med den? Mens en række artikler har undersøgt dette i centraladministrationen, er der forbavsende lidt empirisk materiale om embedsmandsrollen i de danske regioner. Det er overraskende, fordi der er grund til at tro, at regionernes lavpolitiske natur har betydning for embedsmandsrollen, som vi her undersøger med udgangspunkt i 33 interviews med politikere og topembedsmænd. Analysen viser, at topembedsmandsrollen adskiller sig fra den, som tidligere undersøgelser har fundet i centraladministrationen. Vi finder, at lav efterspørgsel på politisk-taktisk rådgivning betyder, at embedsmændene sjældent oplever gråzoner mellem embedsmandsdyder og lydhørhed, eller at deres faglighed presses af politikerne.</p>

2025-04-11T00:00:00+02:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Politica https://tidsskrift.dk/politica/article/view/153264 2025-02-14T10:06:33+01:00 Kristoffer Skovgaard Jensen ksj@ps.au.dk

<p>Vælgernes holdninger og de folkevalgtes responsivitet over for disse er grundpiller i det moderne demokrati. Men hvilken rolle spiller de politiske partier i holdningsdannelsen, og er partiernes mulighed for at yde påvirkning uafhængig af påvirkningens ideologiske retning? Jeg argumenterer i denne artikel for, at vælgerne benytter deres partitilhør som en social gruppeidentitet, der muliggør en adoption af deres partis holdning til konkrete politiske forslag. Artiklen finder på baggrund af et surveyeksperiment med deltagelse af mere end 3000 danske vælgere (771 socialdemokratiske vælgere), at socialdemokratiske vælgere udtrykker mere ideologisk højreorienterede (venstreorienterede) holdninger, når de eksponeres for højreorienterede (venstreorienterede) politikpositioner fra Socialdemokratiet. Gennem en adskillelse af parti og ideologi giver artiklens design mulighed for at undersøge partipåvirkningen af vælgernes holdninger i begge ideologiske retninger i en virkelighedsnær dansk kontekst.</p>

2025-04-11T00:00:00+02:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Politica https://tidsskrift.dk/politica/article/view/153265 2025-02-14T10:38:23+01:00 Troels Fage Hedegaard troelsfh@dps.aau.dk Kristian Kongshøj kongshoj@dps.aau.dk

<p>Atomkraft fik i 2022 et comeback på den politiske dagsorden i Danmark, efter at emnet havde været politisk dødt siden 1985. I denne artikel undersøger vi danskernes holdninger til atomkraft ved hjælp af en spørgeskemaundersøgelse fra 2022 og sammenligninger med de historiske valgundersøgelser fra 1979 og 1981. Resultaterne viser velkendte forskelle på tværs af køn og partivalg i alle år, ligesom de mindst klimabekymrede i 2022 bakker mest op om atomkraft. Vi finder også indikationer på en generel kohorteeffekt, hvor de danskere, der var i deres ”formative år”, mens debatten sidst foregik, forbliver særligt kritiske over for atomkraft. Dette kommer stærkest til udtryk blandt venstreorienterede og klimabekymrede i denne aldersgruppe. Omvendt er modstanden fra disse grupper markant svagere hos de yngre, som er formet af nutidens debat om atomkraft som en mulig klimapolitisk løsning.</p>

2025-04-11T00:00:00+02:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Politica https://tidsskrift.dk/politica/article/view/153267 2025-02-14T10:45:36+01:00 Peter Heyn Nielsen pheynn@ruc.dk

<p>Centrale regeringsudvalg udgør inderkredsen i danske regeringer og dermed den absolutte top af dansk politiks magtpyramide. Desuagtet har de stort set ikke været inddraget i kvantitative statskundskabsstudier. I denne artikel fokuserer jeg på individuelle ministre og deres rolle i regeringers politikudvikling afhængig af, om de er medlemmer af sådanne udvalg eller ej. For årene 1995-2023 undersøger jeg, om bestemte ressortområders andel af de samlede offentlige udgifter øges, hvis den ansvarlige minister har været medlem af enten regeringens økonomiudvalg eller koordinationsudvalg. I analysen ses en signifikant positiv effekt for ministres medlemskab af centrale regeringsudvalg – navnlig af Økonomiudvalget. Det indikerer, at udvalgenes medlemmer har bedre forudsætninger for at skabe politiske forandringer med deres ministerpost end de øvrige ministre. Dertil har et stort antal udskiftninger på ministerposten den modsatte effekt. Resultaterne er vigtige bidrag til vores forståelse af magtkoncentrationen i det danske politiske system, af ministerrollen, og af regeringer og disses interne beslutningsgange.</p>

2025-04-11T00:00:00+02:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Politica https://tidsskrift.dk/politica/article/view/153269 2025-02-14T11:05:21+01:00 Marc Sabatier Hvidkjær marchvidkjaer@fas.harvard.edu Martin Vinæs Larsen mvl@ps.au.dk

<p>okalpolitikere har stor demokratisk betydning, men der er begrænset viden om, hvor godt de repræsenterer vælgerne. Det er svært at undersøge, da det kræver information om både borgernes og politikernes politiske præferencer i alle kommuner. Vi løser denne empiriske udfordring ved at sammenholde kommunalpolitikernes holdninger til et bredt udsnit af lokalpolitiske spørgsmål afrapporteret i en kandidattest før kommunalvalget i 2021 med en landsdækkende stratificeret spørgeskemaundersøgelse (n = 28.817). Vi finder en stærk sammenhæng mellem borgernes og politikernes holdninger på tværs af emner og kommuner. Vi undersøger også, om der er tegn på, at boligejerne er bedre repræsenteret end andre grupper. Vores analyser peger imidlertid på, at ejere og lejere for det meste er enige om lokalpolitiske spørgsmål, og at boligejernes repræsentationsfordel er proportional med deres størrelse i vælgerbefolkningen.</p>

2025-04-11T00:00:00+02:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Politica https://tidsskrift.dk/politica/article/view/153271 2025-02-14T11:13:14+01:00 Peter Triantafillou triant@ruc.dk Flemming Juul Christiansen fjc@ruc.dk

<p>Rigsrevisionens beretninger om statens brug af offentlige midler indgår i den offentlige og parlamentariske kontrol med regeringen. En væsentlig antagelse i litteraturen om nationale rigsrevisioner lyder, at deres kontrolfunktion afhænger af, at de organisatorisk er underordnet parlamentet snarere end regeringen. Der findes dog meget få empiriske studier af denne tese. Nærværende studie undersøger, hvorvidt Rigsrevisionens overflytning i 1991 fra Økonomiministeriet til Folketinget har bidraget til dels at gøre Rigsrevisionens beretninger mere kritiske, dels at øge Folketingets brug af disse til at stille kritiske spørgsmål til regeringen. Undersøgelsen tyder for det første på, at overflytningen har bidraget til at gøre Rigsrevisionens beretninger mere kritiske. Undersøgelsen tyder for det andet på, at overflytningen ikke har haft nogen klar betydning for Folketingets anvendelse af beretningerne.</p>

2025-04-11T00:00:00+02:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Politica https://tidsskrift.dk/politica/article/view/156638 2025-04-10T08:43:33+02:00 Viggo Nedergaard Jensen vnj@ridehus.dk 2025-04-11T00:00:00+02:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Politica