Nordic politics

66Mustang

I want to share something I read today about Danish politics and found it fascinating

I often find people get angry with me because I like to not take a side and consider all points of view

When I do this, both sides seem to treat me as the enemy because in British politics you are expected to take a side

Could we learn something from Scandinavia, where everyone is represented and politics is less about winning an argument and more about making compromise so everyone is content??

"…former Danish Prime Minister (from 2011 - 2015). Asked what is different about Danish / Nordic politics, she said "the big difference in a lot of Nordic politics is that we know how to be pragmatic and compromise". She adds that this is, in part at least, because they have proportional representation, which in Demark means that they never have one party that wins. When she was PM, there were 8 parties in government and she had a coalition with three of them, which even then didn't give her a majority! So, the ability to get on with people with whom she didn't see eye to eye, was key. Looking at European and American politics at the moment, I wonder what they could learn from the Nordic countries?"

I'd be interested to hear what people think! 🤔

Jimm_Alumni

I think we used to have compromise and working together a lot more in the past than we do now. We've become so used to politicians being partisan and insulting the "other side" that when Starmer and Sunak both said nice things about each other during the transfer of power last week it was a surprise to many!

I think it's from our politics being more and more influenced by American politics. Which is far, far more partisan than ours and polarising as time goes on. The way politics is meant to work is that you vote for someone to represent you in the legislation and then, when legislation is being debated and drafted, everyone contributes their concerns and things they want. You eventually bring about something that, hopefully, works best for the majority of the people, rather than a small section of the population.

Starmer and Sunak being quite friendly to each other, after an election campaign where there was a lot of mud slinging, gives me some hope that maybe we will be heading in a better direction. At least, I hope so.

66Mustang

@Jimm_Scope

I was heartened by Starmer and Sunak getting on as well, I know it's for show but I felt kind of warm listening to them getting on and complimenting each other and stuff!

I think British politics is quite tribal because winning is all about mustering enough support to form a majority and then stamping out any opposition and oppressing the minority

With Nordic countries it sounds like everyone has a say and everyone's view is taken into account

It sounds like the best politicians in Nordic places are people who can act as a kind of mediator between 2 or more opponents, rather than like choosing a side and crushing everyone else … maybe I'd be a good Nordic politician 😆

Jimm_Alumni

I mean, in the end we're supposed to be trying to make our country and world a better place right? Even though we have different ideas about how that looks, it's worth it to sit down and talk about it.

egister

The Scandinavians suffered defeats in the wars of the XVIII-XX, they have no colonies, now they are completely under the influence of the United States. Politicians there decide what color houses should be painted.