ABSTRACT
The Nordic political systems differ. Denmark, Norway and Sweden are all constitutional parliamentary monarchies, Iceland and Finland are republics. The electoral threshold for election to parliament varies; Finland has no official threshold, but the de facto threshold can be as high as 12 per cent in small constituencies. In Finland, voters can only cast personal votes, whereas Denmark generally has open lists where personal votes have an impact, as voters can choose to vote either for a party or specific candidate. This chapter provides the Nordic political systems are to specify the development of the party system in these five countries that is the focus of attention on the basis of Rokkan's classic cleavage theory. It focuses on the voters and describes some characteristic similarities and differences regarding Nordic electoral behaviour, analyzing left-right attitudes, electoral volatility, late deciders, turnout and party membership in Nordic politics. The chapter summarizes the support for the social democratic project in the five Nordic countries.
