The Danish Model – also facing analytical difficulties?

Abstract

As a concept, ‘The Danish Model’ stands for a common wish amongst Danish social partners to negotiate collective agreements without political interference. As a dominant national discourse, and for the partners in the industrial relations system, the concept stands for positive aspects of private regulation within the labour market. The article gives a critical assessment of the concept and the theory behind this strong belief in voluntary, professional regulation embedded in the concept of ‘The Danish Model’, also questioning the autonomy presupposed. In reality ‘The Danish Model’ has been functioning as a strategy of immunization against political interventions. The article is critical as to the heavy focus placed on the top negotiators and the consensusforming mechanisms within the system, modeled after private sectors’ experiences 120 Abstracts and negotiation structures. The unique conditions within the public sector have to be recorded and analyzed as well as the welfare state framing and brought into a consistent theory in order to give an explanation of the collective negotiations and collaboration systems operating. Finally, it is shown that the central actors within ‘The Danish Model’ have historically fought against par example equal pay to men and women and regulations stemming from EU and other international organizations. This shows a closed and limited way of thinking, and the conceptualization behind this is unable to grasp the interplay and complementarities between forms of power and regulation. Concepts incorporating more forms of power and regulation are brought into a new approach and a new research strategy beyond the old concept of a ‘Danish Model’.