16th
The Danes and Their Government
I had an interesting interaction with my friend Simon here at the folkehøjskole today. Simon is a Dane but studied for a year in Minnesota, so he has an interesting perspective on the differences between our cultures.
He said to me during conversation at breakfast, “You see, in Denmark the people are up here,” raising his hand to chest-level, “and the government is down here,” lowering his hand to below the table. I chucked and responded, “Yeah, that’s not America. We’re afraid of our government!” He laughed in agreement.
It’s true. The Danes wouldn’t have been able to build the welfare state without putting people before government. They wouldn’t have universal healthcare, state-provided daycare, generous unemployment benefits, or free university education if they feared their government becoming too big or too powerful. Here, instead of the government controlling the people, the people control the government.
I like to explain their parliament is a big town meeting. It works out that way because the electoral system is fundamentally different here. Instead of having two candidates fight for a 50% + 1 majority, representatives are elected proportionately. It’s a pretty complicated system, but the end result is simple. If Party A gets 25% of the vote, it has 25% of the seats in parliament. If Party B gets 8% of the vote, it has 8% of the seats. Basically, you take a cross-section of Denmark and its peoples’ political views and work out the country’s issues together.
With 7 parties that have representation in government, you get many choices! It’s very unlikely that you’re voting for the lesser of two evils, but instead a set of ideas with which you actually agree. And then because of the proportional system, everyone’s vote matters! No one’s opinion gets shut out because they voted for someone who received 49.9% of the vote.
What’s the voter turnout rate in Denmark? Around 85 percent. In a US Presidential election, it’s a little over 50 percent.
