The current Danish government has had economics as its main theme in the parliamentary electoral campaign so far. However, there are voices within the centre-right-populist bloc that demand more discussion on values, because this would be to the benefit of the current governmental parties with their rather conservative, right-wing policies, especially when it comes to people with foreign background living in Denmark.

Is it true that conservative, nationalistic values are the champions in Denmark’s parliamentary elections? What are the values that the Danes cherish?

First of all, the situation in Denmark is not unique. The majority of European countries are going through a phase of value-conservatism. However, there are certain defining features that are specific to the Danish society. First of all, Denmark has a small and a relatively homogeneous population. Secondly, a Danish researcher (Kasper Støvring, Syddansk Universitet) defines Danishness as follows: it comprises of trust, satisfaction with life and willingness to join voluntary networks and NGOs (http://kulturkamp.blogs.berlingske.dk/2011/04/04/danskerne-afviser-det-multikulturelle-samfund/). What else? A research conducted at Aalborg University in 2008 (Danskernes nationale forestillinger. Christian Albrekt Larsen. Aalborg Universitetsforlag. 2008) shows for instance that 75% of Danes do not want that ethnic minorities should have state financing to maintain their own customs and traditions. The results of this research have by some been interpreted so that Danes are world champions when it comes to negative ideas about multiculturalism.

On the other hand we know that the Nordic societies altogether are known worldwide for at least two things: equality between different groups of people and strong individual freedoms. What is happening to our societies if we do not want people who move to our countries to be able to maintain their traditional ways of living and doing – of course within the confines of our jurisdiction and civil liberties and duties? My suggestion is that we need much more knowledge, and more exact knowledge about what the people in our five Nordic countries really think about value-related issues such as attitudes towards ethnic and other minorities, immigration and so forth. Furthermore, we should be very careful with what we mean with "multiculturalism", and what we definitely do not mean with it.

If we look at the latest parliamentary elections in the Nordic countries, we can see, firstly, that the Norwegian populist party, the Progress Party, did extremely well in the Norwegian Parliamentary elections in 2009, becoming the second biggest party in the Parliament. The elections were a huge loss for the (already small) liberal party, Venstre, in Norway. In the parliamentary elections in Sweden, in 2010, the Swedish populist party, the Sweden Democrats, made their best result ever in parliamentary elections. The 2011 parliamentary elections in Finland meant a big loss for the Finnish Greens and the Centre Party, the first being a value-liberal party and the second having a considerable – and notable - value-liberal wing. The populist "True Finns" party had their best parliamentary election result ever, making them the third biggest party in the Finnish parliament.

This week (12/9/2011) local elections will be held in Norway, and thereafter the Parliamentary elections in Denmark (15/9/2011). Both are very interesting and very significant milestones, and they disclose the current value climate in the Nordic region.

Terhi Tikkala
Secretary General, Centre Group in the Nordic Council

Terhi Tikkala was a key speaker at Think Tank e2’s Lunchbreakin News –session. The theme of the event was the parliamentary elections 2011 in Denmark