Welfare State & Constitutionalism in the Nordic Countries

Edited by Martin Scheinin
Nordic Council of Ministers, Copenhagen 2001.

The book brings together a group of 12 Nordic scholars and their papers on issues concerning the relationship between constitutionalism and welfare state. It is a result of a four-year research project, funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers as a part of the multidisciplinary research programme "Norden och Europa" (The Nordic Countries and Europe). The book’s approach is mainly legal, although a short analysis of the history of the idea of constitutionalism is included. The first section of the book discusses the challenges of constitutionalism in the Nordic countries. The second section concerns the constitutional protection of fundamental rights within the welfare state. Special emphasis is given to the case of Finland, mainly due to the fact that Finland adopted, in 1995, a new constitutional chapter on fundamental rights, including a far-reaching catalogue on economic, social and cultural rights.

Contents:

1. Introduction (Martin Scheinin)

I CONSTITUTIONALISM: CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES

2. Constitutionalism: Popular Legitimacy of the State? (Ágúst Thór Árnason)

3. North and South: Can the Nordic States and the European Continent Find Each Other in the Constitutional Area—Or Are They too Different? (Joakim Nergelius)

4. Welfare State and Constitutionalism under the EEA Agreement (Hans Petter Graver)

5. Ethnic Fairness and the Management of a Modern Welfare State: Of Law, Politics and Values (Timo Makkonen)

II CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTION OF WELFARE RIGHTS

6. Judicial Review of Legislation—A Sustainable Strategy on the Enforcement of Basic Rights

(Jens Elo Rytter)

7. Judicialised Protection of International Human Rights and the Issue of Power Balance (Ida Elisabeth Koch and Jens Vedsted-Hansen)

8. Fundamental Social Rights in the Finnish Constitution, with Special Reference to their Enforcement by the Administration (Paula Ilveskivi)

9. Protection of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Finland—A Rights-Based Variant of the Welfare State? (Martin Scheinin)

10. Constitutional Protection against Retrogressive Social Security Legislation in Finland—An Examination of the Practice of the Constitutional Law Committee (Catarina Krause)

11. Nordic Welfare and the Right to Education and Culture (Pentti Arajärvi)

12. The Conditions of Education for Young Immigrants in the Nordic Welfare States (Päivi Gynther)