Political Science

Internationalization is a variable process as opposed to a constant one. One claim that prevails in a significant majority of literature on globalization is the perception of transformation as well as development and consolidation being spawned on the platform of internationalization. The welfare state that characterizes Denmark did not come out from within and below but on the contrary as a result of the various processes that characterized its interactions between the domestic state on one side and the international community in which the country was inextricably bound, on the other. It is critical for one to fully grasp how the country has gotten accustomed and as such responded to the international as well as European environment. This suggests that we study Denmarks national features as well as its institutions, various actors and their knowledge levels together with the countries reflexivity as well as external state systems. As such, these internationalization and Europeanization processes are of critical significance in studying the Danish Welfare state. This posits Denmarks foreign policy to be transformationalist.  In the ensuing of history, the Danish state has managed to set an agenda for example, with regard to issues of the environment. Societys fulfillment as well as separation of the state from the society was made in Denmark through assenting to the democratic constitution that was ideally liberal in June of 1849 as well as the 1857 Freedom of Trade Act. The emergence of a democratized constitution in Denmark can be interpreted as being party to the context of the process of Europeanization with transformations in state relations.

The Danish international trade policy is endeared towards fostering more free trade on a global scale. Denmarks economy as well as the world economy together with respective economies of developing countries derives benefits from increased trade on a global scale. In 2003, 146 World Trade Organization member countries so as to take a look at the progress they had made which would then facilitate second phase negotiations, met in Cancun, Mexico. United States and European Union member countries like Denmark presented a common proposal for agriculture as a principle area in the Cancun talks. In this proposal, the European Union wanted to face out export subsidies on product that it perceived to be of particular interest to countries in the third world. This was on a platform of stable and transparent conditions of investment for all nations that met under the umbrella of WTO. So as to make progress in Mexico, E.U member states like Denmark preferred to be flexible. As part of similar efforts, the Danish state has modeled a host of bilateral outreach initiatives that promote development of developing nations. This is aimed at developing and enhancing the bilateral talks in the same round of talks as in Cancun, in Doha Qatar. Among Denmarks initiatives was its governments sponsored ministerial talks on the African continent (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark Para 1).

Garret argued that elevated trade which came across with diminished barriers was of benefit to affluent counties as well as poor countries but lacked to benefit the middle placed countries (Stone 18). This is because ideally, comparative advantage theory did not consider the size of nations such as the Indian subcontinent as well as the Peoples Republic of China. It was as a result of the impossibility for nations of middle-income to entice capital that sought lower costs of labor when the same capital would opt to be invested in China or India where both legal as well as political structures were relatively enhanced to promote enterprise development (Garret 85). Denmark thus, being one such country is dwarfed with regard to its labor force by that of India and China with lopsided outcomes in trade.

The phase that spans from early 1950s to the early 1970s provided to a significant proportion a moderately steady as well as benefiting environment for the existence of the welfare state in Denmark. Increased social expenditure as well as the growth that characterized the public sector that was enhanced by the prevalent economic growth added up to further progress as well as  consolidation of the welfare state. In the last years of the sixties and the following years of the early 70s transforming governments and the leading civil servants came up with more strategic policies together with changes in the countrys institutions so as to enhance the welfare dimension in Denmark. A critical reform in administration at the level of municipality was introduced in nineteen seventy whereupon the new structure of the municipality gave room for a better environment for   social reforms, that came shortly after. A majority of the undertaken reforms were perceived as the creation of the best welfare state in the world. This quite impressive growth of the welfare state in Denmark relied on a continuous expansion as well as a full policy on employment. Consequently, numerous events that took place at the beginning of the early 1970s had severe ramifications for the welfare state in Denmark as well as other welfare states around the world.

 A combination of events that fall back to the late 1960s but primarily 1971 and onwards are explained as the causes of a completely new situation in Denmark. A radical change in the American foreign policy doubled with the latters economic policy as well as the oil predicament giving rise to an ideological crisis as well as political and fiscal crisis in Denmark. Nixons doctrine in 1969 was the pioneer significant move in the American foreign policy. It ended the world embracing of communism as a policy. America persuaded nations such as Brazil as well as Iran together with Saudi Arabia and Israel to proceed as its sub-imperial powers. This strategy was enhanced by both naval and air power but not ground marines (Reifer  Sudler 199628). This shift in policy resulted into the hobby of a dtente with the Former USSR. As a result there was a striking change in Americas relationship with China. When Secretary Kissinger in July of 1971 and later on President Nixon in the following year shook hands with Chairman Mao of Peoples Republic of China, the whole world was surprised with the exception of Japan (Calvocoressi 199178). Americas reproach of China was to serve as a warning to the former Soviet Union not to lightly take the tense Russo-American dtente (Calvocoressi 1991109).

The newly derived Sino-USA subtlety as well as the American-Russian diplomacy was endeared towards pressuring the Peoples Republic of China together with the former Soviet Union into fully accepting the norms of the American dominated interstate system. Chinas consistent criticism of the former Soviet Union was a major factor in the major change with regard to the world balance of power to Americas decisive benefit (Reifer and Sudler 199628). In the same way, this shift in policy implied a signal to the western allies that they too, to a larger extent, were in the long run expected to look after them. The reformulation and ultimate remodeling of the alliance meant new priorities with regard to Denmarks objectives as well as aims.

Primarily, communist revolts that were internal were no longer perceived as authentic hazards. This signal was also alluded to by Americas decision to shut the window of gold. President Nixons 1971 decision to end the conversion of the dollar with gold, consequently, brought down the Bretton Woods Institutions system. This was not only a signal but also a fresh policy in the world economic strategies which came across with fresh priorities. The critical and primary priority was the objective of dropping the high rate of inflation by any means necessary which included resolving the prevalent unemployment. Economic policy that was ideally Keynesian replaced was in its place replaced by Friedman monetarism. This meant that the policy on employment that to a given extent was the driving force behind welfare collapsed. These economic and political transformations had rigorous implications for Denmark as a welfare state. This was the 1973 and 1979 OPEC oil crises (Hirst  Thompson 19995).

The oil crises had severe consequences for Americas major competitors who primarily were European countries like Denmark as payment for oil was in the American dollar. Resultantly, the dollar surplus that characterized the sixties across European states like Denmark as well as Japan converted into deficits in this period. As oil was a fuel in industrial processes both directly as well as indirectly, the increased prices raised the cost of production in Denmark (Reifer  Sudler 199628).

Americas change of its foreign policy as well as the crumple of the Bretton Woods Institutions system together with the 2 shocks in the oil market and the increasingly uneven world financial system placed Denmark in an intricate state of affairs.  In history, during this period Danish civil servants as well as the countrys politicians perceived that the climax of the welfare state had been reached. It was inevitable to implement a truthful welfare state that would be built on genuine internationalized principles. A whole range of far reaching administrative and social reforms was commenced and everything was on time until the moment when the model as a result of these mainly outside events ran into major tribulations. These were higher cost of production together with the deterioration of the trade balance as well as problems with currency. Moreover, there also was higher inflation and a rapidly increasing rate of unemployment that was financially burdensome to the welfare state. The ensuing catastrophe sucked the treasury dry and halted further progress with regard to social policies in the following years.

The seventies derived a new situation which positioned Denmark in a new environment. The gold window closure was as a result of the war in Vietnam though it was unintended. The plentiful surplus in trade altered at the beginning of the seventies to a huge deficit. This was because America minted more dollars to meet the cost of the war. More countries like Denmark preferred to maintain their reserve with gold as opposed to the dollar (Reifer  Sudler 199626). It has taken various governments in Denmark to resolve the trade balance surplus and inflation.