Abstract

The ‘Nordic exceptionalism’ in development aid is well known and characterized by its generosity and focus on poverty reduction and sustainable development. However, the individual Nordic countries’ development policies differ significantly, as the contributions to this special issue have uncovered. For example, Sweden and Norway have continuously upheld the volume of aid at above 1 per cent of GNI, while Denmark in the new millennium has cut the aid budget by almost one third, and Finland has struggled to surpass 0.45 per cent. Sweden maintains a strong focus on poverty reduction, whereas Norway’s and Finland’s poverty focus has been diluted somewhat by several competing goals, and Denmark’s even more so. This article compares the volumes, instruments, and goals of the four Nordic countries’ development policies. We find that if there ever was such a thing as a Nordic model in development aid, this model has been significantly weakened in the 00s and 10s, when the four countries have grown apart. The main explanations behind these differences, we posit, are the particular domestic political coalitions behind aid policy, which affect the extent to which development policy is politicized.

摘要

发展援助中的“北欧例外论”是众所周知的，其特点是慷慨大方，注重减贫和可持续发展。然而，正如对这一特刊的贡献所揭示的那样，各个北欧国家的发展政策存在显着差异。例如，瑞典和挪威的援助额一直保持在国民总收入的 1% 以上，而丹麦在新千年将援助预算削减了近三分之一，芬兰则难以超过 0.45%。瑞典一直非常重视减贫，而挪威和芬兰的贫困重点已因几个相互竞争的目标而有所减弱，丹麦更是如此。本文比较了四个北欧国家发展政策的数量、工具和目标。我们发现，如果说在发展援助方面曾经有过北欧模式这种东西，那么这种模式在 00 年代和 10 年代四个国家已经分崩离析的时候已经被大大削弱了。我们认为，这些差异背后的主要解释是援助政策背后的特定国内政治联盟，这影响了发展政策的政治化程度。