DENMARK

Study and teaching in the field of political science in Denmark has developed in leaps and bounds under the influence of the need felt for such studies at different times. Already at the beginning of the 18th century several Danish university professors were engaged in studies and considerations of the preferable social and political order. Most outstanding among them was Ludvig Holberg who was also a very prolific playwright and historian. As most of his contemporaries, he was strongly influenced by the main currents of political thought in France and Germany. Towards the end of the century popular interest in social, economic, and political reform had an enormous upsurge in Denmark. The material bases forthic supposedly could be traced to the need for a new production- and marketing system for Danish agriculture, which was flourishing during the European wars. A particular role in the development was played by the Academy of Soroe, which had been established already in the 17th century for the education of the Danish nobility. From this centre of learning emerged many people who were actively engaged in both the study and practice of politics either as councillors, ministers or administrators. Their common activities were directed towards the "common wealth", and inspired by the European enlightenment; they had a very clear conception of what was good for society as a whole. Their studies were mostly speculative and normative, while empirical research was not considered very important. Besides, they were very practically oriented and wanted to use their insights and knowledge in their day to day activities. This probably is the reason why so much political thought and study in Denmark was directed towards the actual and practical situation. Outstanding representatives of this period were J. S. Sneedorff, C. U. D. von Eggers, Laurids Engelstoft, and C. N. David. The trend towards the normative and practical was continued in the following period, and the main concern was with juridical, economic and other practical matters. Consequently, it became more and more difficult to find a special branch of study or teaching, which might be called political science. Many aspects of it were studied and taught inside law, economics, and history, but without any coherent or systematic framework. This situation prevailed until the beginning of the present century, when a new interest in social, economic and political problems was provoked by the fundamental changes in the Danish and the European political systems. Also this time we can observe the spiritual influence from France, where the sociological and normative schools inspired a Danish historian, Peter Munch, the later outstanding politician and foreign minister. He introduced the new subject of social studies in secondary education, but from a scientific point of view his main effort was to establish in 1927 the Institute of History and Economics. From this Institute emerged many social, economic, political., and legal studies, for example, Georg Cohn: Neo-Neutrality, which was translated into English in 1939 (Columbia University Press). At the University level studies and teaching was not re-introduced till after the Second World War, when the professor in law at Copenhagen University, Sven Clausen introduced teaching in political science. Political science and international relations, were also introduced as requirements for a degree in history. The significant starting point for a new and scientific study of politics was the establishment of the study of political science at Aarhus University in 1958. The background for this may partly be found in the foundation of IPSA in 1949, and party in a growing need for a new basis for recruitment to the Danish Civil Service. Since 1964 a few candidates, — until now only nine — have graduated in political science as what is called cand.scient.pol. (candidatus scientiarum politicarum). The study is stipulated to take about six years. Like most other Danish university studies it consists of two parts, which comprise the following subjects: Part one: 1. Political Science (introductory course) 2. Economics 3. Statistics 4. Constitutional, administrative and international law 5. Sociology Part two: 1. The Political System (Comparative Politics) 2. The History of Political Theory and Political Ideas 3. International Organization and Politics 4. Public Administration 5. Modern Political History. Two professors were appointed in 1959. Their first years of work had to be concentrated around the founding and building-up of an Institute and the organization of the new educational activities. The number of registered students at the Institute of Political Science is now about 200. The staff of the Institute grew simultaneously, and now consists of three professors and nine assistant professors, lecturers, stipendiates, etc. Under the direction of Professor Poul Meyer the first Danish research project was started in the beginning of the sixties. The aim of this project was to identify some of the factors determining the electoral turnout, and official election statistics and a representative sample of the registration lists were used as the main sources. The project was completed and the results published in 1964, as the first publication from the Institute of Political Science: Jens Jeppesen and Poul Meyer, Sofavælgerne. Electoral Turnout in Denmark (600).* This study, which contains a full summary in English, has among other things documented that the Danish voters are in general characterized by a considerable turnout, but that it is possible to find differences among the various regions <of the country and among the various social categories. Another result that may be mentioned is that the analysis of the registration lists showed a rather low number of "constant" non-voters. About 50 per cent of all non-voters in a certain election had voted in the previous election. In 1962 the Institute of Political Science began preparations for a series of longitudinal ecological analyses of voting turnout and party preferences in national elections between the period 1920—1964. The starting point for these investigations was the establishment of a "data-archive" which contains census data, the results of each election and other relevant information on each of the 1400 Danish municipalities. The collection of data has been completed for the 1947—1964 period. Data for 1920—1945 are being coded. Roughly, the archive contains the following data: 1. Identification of the municipality. 2. The number of voters, the voting turn-out and the distribution of votes among the parties participating in the elections of 1947, 1950, 1957, 1960, 1964. 3. Results of the referendum in 1963. This referendum was the first to be held according to section 42 of the 1953 Constitution. 4. Census data from 1950 and 1960 concerning the number of inhabitants, the relative growth since 1950, the age distribution, the distribution of the working population according -to occupation and industry, and the degree of urbanization. 5. Average taxable income in 1960. 6. The relative size of farms in the municipality 7. Unemployment rates in 1957/58. All data are punched in IBM cards, and duplicates will be available for other research-workers on request. At present, part of the research staff of the Institute is finishing an analysis of results from the last two general elections. The results will be published at the end of 1966, together with an ecological analysis of party strength in different types of municipalities in 1960. The next publication based on data from the archive will mainly deal with the 1947—1964 period. The establishment of the data-archive and the above mentioned research projects are directed by Jan Stenhouwer, assisted by Ole Borre. Research in political science until the recent years has been carried out chiefly by individual scholars. Among these can be mentioned Erik Rasmussen, Statslånskrisen 1919, The public Loan Crisis of 1919 (Arhus 1957), an account of a Danish political and constitutional conflict, with special reference to the principle of parliamentary government based upon the Lower House; Poul Meyer, Administrative Organization — a comparative study o/ the organization of public administration, (London 1957 and German edition: Die Verwaltungsorganisation (Göttingen 1962); and from the last years, Tage Kaarsted Regeringskrisen 1957. En studie i regeringsdannelsens proces (144). Kaarsted's study of the cabinet crisis is chiefly based on interviews with politicians who took active part in solving the crisis and presents a rather penetrating analysis of the political situation of 1957. Studies are under way from collaborators of the Institute of Political Science in Aarhus: Cand.scient.pol. Mogens N. Pedersen is undertaking an analysis of the question hours of the Danish Folketing. His aim is to analyse the development of parliamentary questioning since its introduction in 1947, and to examine its function as a species of political control under the changing conditions of Parliament-Cabinet relations. Cand.scient.pol. Curt Sørensen is doing research on the role of Syndicalist ideas in the Danish Labour Movement during the First World War. Cand.scient.pol. Torben Worre is analysing the role of political parties and their affiliated organizations in West African political systems, expecially in Senegal. In 1960 a Danish Society for Political Science was founded, which has 72 members, and is affiliated with IPSA. It has one yearly conference with discussions of work going on at the different institutes. Besides the institute in Aarhus, an Institute o/ Contemporary History and Political Science has been established at the University of Copenhagen in 1960. As the Institute has had no means and no teaching until recently, its work has been very limited. It is now the coordinating institute for teaching for the new social science degree, which was introduced in Copenhagen in 1965 (in 1964 this social science degree had been introduced in Aarhus). The main subjects of this study will be political science and international politics, and it is to be hoped that this new establishment will open a new and as bright a prospect for the study of political science in Copenhagen as have already been demonstrated in Aarhus. The significant feature of the Danish development is its long tradition without formal recognition or establishment, its narrow connection with response to needs made explicit from society as a whole and, last but not least, its open acceptance and receptiveness to international developments inside the field of theory and method. This last feature ought to make it possible for the newly reestablished study of political science to define its natural sphere of studies.

Sven and Erik Rasmussen