Popular movements and the fragility of the Nordic democracies during the first half of the twentieth century

Abstract

The Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden are among the few European countries where parliamentary democracy survived the challenges of the interwar period. The apparent resilience of Nordic democracy has sometimes been partly attributed to the strength of the popular movements, the internal democratic structures, and culture of these organizations and not least their role in educating their members in democratic practices. Drawing primarily on examples from the co-operative movements in several Nordic countries, the article asks how democracy was understood in co-operative societies and how it functioned in practice. Co-operative societies were committed to the principle of ‘one member one vote’, but faced constant dilemmas over how to combine the possibility for grassroots influence with the need for central control, especially as the organizations grew in size. In some cases, this led to irreconcilable conflicts and splits in central organizations. The article argues that although the co-operatives and other popular movements later came to be seen as crucial elements in the survival of Nordic democracy, their role in this survival should not be taken for granted.