A standard definition of corporatism is that it is a system of interest intermediation in which privileged interest groups are integrated into the government decision making machinery. For a first glance this would imply that decorporatization – as witnessed in many prior corporatist countries during the last few decades – would increase access for more non-privileged groups. This has, however not been the case in Denmark since 1975: Access to government decision making have become increasingly inequal. The reason is that the regulation of access that implied in a corporatist structure also supports some of the weaker interests where a “free market” for access leaves more room for the large and resourceful interest groups and less for the small and poor. The analysis is based on surveys to interest groups in 1975 and 2010 and on data on all government committees with interest group representation in the same two years.
