Nordic Exceptionalism and the Legal Complex

Abstract

Abstract This chapter sketches out accounts of the development of the modern liberal state in each of the Nordic societies, including the marginal collective action by groups of lawyers in the process. It points out that political history and pace of development in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Iceland followed roughly parallel paths, despite their differences in geography. It also identifies a set of factors that account for the development of modern economies, robust democracies, and advanced welfare states. The chapter emphasizes the dramatic increase in law training in the nineteenth century; particularly the law training that was in essence training for public administration in the developing Rechtsstaat. It describes the emergence of the Rechtsstaat as largely a top-down development, which was introduced by absolute monarchs and further expanded by emerging parliamentary governments.