Experts and policy advice in the Nordic countries: A study of commissions of inquiry in Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway, 1970-2020

Public inquiry commissions been coined corner-stones in the Nordic model of governance. Since the Second World War, commissions have played a crucial role in initiating and reforming public policies in the Nordic welfare states. Composed by interest groups, civil servants, scholars, stakeholders and experts of various sorts, commissions have in the scholarly literature been seen as expressions of the Nordic countries’ extensive administrative capacity, corporatist governance, and strong reliance on expert input in policy-making. In this paper, we take a closer look at the role and participation of academics experts on commissions. The paper asks: How has the participation of academic experts on advisory commissions changed over the period 1970-2020 in the Nordic countries, and how can we explain varying trends in academic expert participation across these countries? Empirically, the paper make use of unique, comparative time-series data to examine the presence academics on commissions in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. The analysis spans from the 1970s until today. Authors: Johan Christensen, Leiden University Peter Munk Christiansen, Aarhus University Stine Hesstvedt, Norwegian Institute for Social Research Anne Maria Holli, Helsinki University Cathrine Holst, University of Oslo Kira Pronin, University of Pittsburgh