- Stein Rokkan’s perspectives are needed to understand Norwegian politics
To grasp developments in Norwegian politics, Stein Rokkan’s perspectives are needed, PhD student Olav Elgvin of the Department of Comparative Politics writes in newspaper Klassekampen. Rokkan’s political-sociological perspectives are not sufficiently present, according to Elgvin.
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Elgvin writes that to examine adequately power relations and decision-making in Norwegian politics, Rokkan’s political-sociological perspectives are needed. Rokkan emphasized the significance of social identities, power, class and relationships between groups:
“When one reads Rokkan, one discovers perspectives that are largely missing in research on Norwegian politics. His most well-known argument was ‘Votes count, resources decide’. When Rokkan wrote these words in 1966, he saw societal developments as determined not only by the parliamentary party composition, but also by external power relations: how powerful were employers? How powerful were the unions?”
Read the entire op-ed at Retriever.
Read more about Stein Rokkan here.