When the Government Governs: Closing Compliance Gaps in Danish Employment Policies

Abstract

Governance theory and research start from the assumption that in modern decision-making systems no formal control system can dictate the terms of the relationship between the plurality of interdependent actors and organizations (Chhotray & Stoker, 2010). In this article, we present the story of a government fixated on reasserting control in the age of governance. The government would not accept compliance gaps in policy implementation and deliberately redesigned the governance structure to achieve greater compliance and central control. The case is implementation of employment policies in Denmark. After reviewing the available evidence, we find that central decision makers have been successful in narrowing the former compliance gaps between policy objectives and local implementation. Although compliant implementation is not the same as effective or successful problem solving, the case shows that determined governments can succeed in reinforcing central democratic control over complex implementation processes.