Winston Churchill once said that ”democracy is the worst of political systems, except for all the others”.
What makes democracy work? ... and where?

Are there different levels of democracy – constituting a Darwinian pyramid – where the European family line is the top layer, and with the Nordic Democracy at its apex? Or are we Nordics naïve self-indulgent chauvinists on a cultural crusade to conquest the rest of Europe and the World in the name of Her Holiness, the Nordic Democracy.

Nordic democracy has a long history. Every Swedish province had its ding, like Iceland`s farthings, in each of the country`s twelve jurisdictions. Danmark had three landlings, and Norway its lögthings. At the lowest level in Iceland, a system of hieppar or ”farmers gatherings” functioned from the elleventh to the nineteenth centuries. The Nordic democracy had an impact everywhere the Vikings went – in England, in Scotland, in Russian Novgorod, and very probably in Poland.

A flock of new states today throw themselves into the abyss of democracy, and we expect them to crave our shepherding services for the journey. Do Nordic Protestants have a monopoly in interpreting democracy? Our sacred democratic traditions; a cultural omni-appliant export feature, or a potential misfit when imposed upon non-Nordic demographics?

In the quest for the construction of New Europe, are the Nordic countries armed with a democratic sword capable of solving any Gordian knot, or are we simply beeing arogant farmers and fishermen?

This Onsdagsdebatt is presented in co-operation with the University of Helsinki.

Panel:
Teija Tiilikainen Director, Network for European Studies, University of Helsinki
Henrik Stenius Research Director, Center for Nordic Studies, University of Helsinki