ABSTRACT
Basically we subscribe to the view that there is such a thing as a Scandinavian or Nordic (welfare) model or type (or welfare regime), characterized among other things by the general adoption of the principle of universalism. The questions we shall discuss are: what is meant by universalism? When did the (defined) principle of universalism become embedded in the Nordic welfare states? Why did it, with some exception for Iceland (see Chapter 12), become so important in Scandinavia and ‘Norden’? Who promoted the principle, with which arguments? Is universalism still a major component of recent social and welfare policy reforms in the Nordic countries?
