A Scandinavian Variety of Power Elites? Key Institutional Orders in the Danish Elite Networks

This chapter aims to answer a simple, yet complex question: who are the members of the most powerful group in Danish society? It presents the elite formation of a contemporary Scandinavian welfare state. The chapter provides a coherent account of Danish elites during the retrenchment of welfare states. It identifies the core of the Danish power network in order to determine the exchange values between different resources and thus the institutional orders or sectors dominating Danish society. The chapter explains a core group of 423 individuals, defined through their formal interlocks across 5,079 affiliations within the state, business, organizations, politics, charities and social events in Denmark. It shows that the tranquil Scandinavian welfare state should not be seen as a country freed from the struggle of elite power accumulation, but instead as a unique type of what Michael G. Burton and John Higley call an "elite settlement". The chapter identifies the elite through patterns of participation in affiliation networks.