ABSTRACT
The region that is today called Norden consists of five independent countries: Denmark (including the Faroe Islands and Greenland), Finland (including Åland), Iceland, Norway and Sweden. From a comparative perspective, the Nordic countries are politically, socially and culturally rather similar. They all have high standards of living and generous public welfare systems. In a study by Inglehart and Norris (2003), the Nordic countries are the prime examples of post-materialist societies: egalitarian values, including gender equality, and high levels of individuation and secularization. All countries are parliamentary democracies and utilize a proportional representation electoral system. Despite their very modern image, three of the five Nordic countries are monarchies. The queen of Denmark, the king of Norway and the king of Sweden are formally the heads of the state. 1 Finland and Iceland have presidents and are often classified as semi-presidential systems. With the exception of Finland and to some extent Iceland, the heads of state in the Nordic countries have no real political power, their duties being merely representative. In Finland the president is directly elected by the people and holds real power in terms of foreign policy, European Union policy, major military decisions and the appointment of top civil servants. In Iceland the president is elected by direct popular vote for a term of four years, with no term limit.
