ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses major trends in immigration policy-making in Scandinavia since the 1970s. Comparative immigration research usually focuses on the three larger immigration countries in the region: Sweden, Denmark and Norway. The interplay between norms and institutions largely explains the original approach to the new immigration in Sweden, Denmark and Norway. The new post-war human rights regime combined with the early years of the welfare state moulded a new political opportunity structure into which immigration was to be fitted. The immigration policy introduced during the 1970s presupposed that immigration could be governed according to labour demand and welfare capacity. Today, immigration has turned into a central driver for economic, social and political change in the region, particularly in the three major immigration countries. The systemic qualities of the Nordic Model largely premised the national approaches to immigration from the outset.
