A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE SCANDINAVIAN DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION POLICIES - DIVA

Linköping University | Department of Management and Engineering
                     MSc in International and European Relations | Master’s thesis, 30 credits
                                                    Spring 2021| LIU-IEI-FIL-A--21/03729--SE

A comparative Study of the
Scandinavian Development
Cooperation Policies
– Evaluating and Contrasting the Similarities and
Differences between Denmark, Norway and Sweden

Author: Jamila Zeynalzade

Supervisor: Lars Niklasson
Examiner: Khalid Khayati

                                                                         Linköping University
                                                                SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden
                                                                +46 013 28 10 00, www.liu.se

Acknowledgements

At the start, I want to express gratitude to my supervisor and professor Lars Niklasson who

supported me with valuable advice and help for the research during this thesis period. He is a

great mentor who guided me on many occasions.

I thank my Father for inspiring me in international relations since my childhood. He is and will

always be my role model. I appreciate all my groupmates and professors who made these two

years a very interesting, educative and most of all a pleasant experience. In particular, I want to

thank our Program Director, Per Jansson, for his enormous contribution to our learning process.

Without his help, my university internship would not be that successful. My gratitude also goes

to the team of EU’s OPEN Neighbourhood programme for providing me with internship

opportunity during the third semester. Finally, I would like to thank the Swedish Institute for this

opportunity of studying in Sweden with full scholarship. This country and people here will

always be in my heart.

Dedication

I dedicate this work to my doctor mother, Sevinj Zeynalova, who is the reason of my all

successes. She passed away from COVID-19, while I was in Sweden. I will always do my best to

make her proud. May her soul rest in peace.

                                                 i

This publication is part of my research work at Linköping University, funded by a Swedish

Institute scholarship.

                                            ii

Glossary

CDI        Commitment to Development Index

COVAX      COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access

COVID-19   Coronavirus disease

DAC        Development Assistance Committee

Danida     Denmark’s development cooperation

DKK        Danish Krone (currency)

EaP        Eastern Partnership

EBA        Expert Group for Aid Studies

EU         European Union

FBA        Folke Bernadotte Academy

FDI        Foreign Direct Investment

GDP        Gross domestic product

GEF        Global Environment Facility

GNI        Gross National Income

GNP        Gross National Product

IBRD       International Bank for Reconstruction and Development

ICRC       International Committee of the Red Cross

IDB        Inter-American Development Bank

IFU        Danish Investment Fund for Developing Countries

IR         International Relations

IMF        International Monetary Fund

MDG        Millennium Development Goal

MENA       Middle East and North Africa

MFA        Ministry of Foreign Affairs

                                           iii

MOPAN      Multilateral Organization Performance Assessment Network

NATO       North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NGO        Non-Governmental Organization

NICFI      Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative

Norad      Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation

Norec      Norwegian Agency for Exchange Cooperation

Norfund    Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries

ODA        Official Development Assistance

OECD       Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development

PBR        Payment By Results

PES        Projects Export Secretariat

SDG        Sustainable Development Goal

Sida       Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency

SRHR       Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

Swedfund   Swedish Development Finance Institution

UK         United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

UN         United Nations

US(A)      United States of America

WTO        World Trade Organization

WWII       World War II

                                             iv

Abstract

This paper examines the development cooperation policies of the Scandinavian countries,

namely Denmark, Norway and Sweden. It aims to provide a more detailed understanding of the

similarities and differences between the three countries in conducting development cooperation.

The term of development cooperation is almost synonymous with aid programs or more

specifically with Official Development Assistance / ODA while also being a broader concept

covering many support mechanisms. Thus, a central concern in this study is to investigate the aid

volume, focus areas, geographic allocations, institutional structure and objectives of the

Scandinavian countries as well as explore the policy reasons from theoretical perspectives and

models. The research is conducted according to John Mill's method of difference as the

researched countries are highly similar in development level and aid provision. Possible theories

of the thesis are neorealism and sociological institutionalism which are proven effective in

analyzing the foreign policies and understanding state behaviors in International Relations. The

political culture and models of foreign policy analysis branch are also involved for providing a

broader scope.

The research results show that although these three countries are very similar in many aspects,

they have also some differences in their policy objectives and strategies. The reasons are various,

be it power aspirations, cultural differences or simply the values.

Key words: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, development cooperation, policy.

Word count: 23644*

* Excluding Acknowledgements, Dedication, Glossary, Abstract, Contents, List of Tables and

References
                                                 v

Abstrakt

Bu tədqiqat işi, Skandinaviya ölkələri olan Danimarka, Norveç və İsveçin inkişaf naminə

əməkdaşlıq siyasətləri haqqındadır. Tezis, inkişaf naminə əməkdaşlıq sahəsində bu ölkələr

arasındakı oxşar və fərqli cəhətlərin ətraflı araşdırılaraq, daha yaxşı anlaşılmasını hədəfləyir. Bir

çox dəstək mexanizmini özündə ehtiva edən “İnkişaf naminə əməkdaşlıq” konsepsiyası, termin

olaraq, yardım proqramları, daha dəqiq ifadə etsək, İnkişaf üçün Rəsmi Yardım / ODA ilə oxşar

mənaları ifadə edir. Tezisin əsas məğzi, Skandinaviya ölkələri tərəfindən ayrılan yardımların

həcmini, maraq dairələrini, coğrafi təyinatlarını, institusional quruluş və hədəflərini araşdırmaq,

həmçinin, bu yardımların siyasi səbəblərini nəzəri baxımdan və modellər nöqteyi-nəzərindən

tədqiq etməkdir. Tədqiq olunan ölkələrin yardım ayırma və inkişaf səviyyələri arasındakı

bənzərliklər nəzərə alınmaqla, Con Millin “Fərqlilik metodu”ndan istifadə edilmişdir. Tezisdə

neorealizm    və   sosioloji   institusionalizm   nəzəriyyələrindən    istifadə   olunmuşdur.    Bu

nəzəriyyələrin, xarici siyasətin təhlilində, həmçinin, beynəlxalq münasibətlərdə dövlət

addımlarının anlaşılmasında mühüm əhəmiyyətə malik olduğu təsdiqlənmişdir. Bundan başqa,

geniş mövqeni təmin etmək məqsədilə, siyasi mədəniyyət və xarici siyasətin təhlili sahəsi

modellərindən də istifadə olunmuşdur.

Tədqiqatın nəticələri göstərir ki, bu üç ölkə bir çox cəhətdən oxşar olsalar da, siyasi məqsədlər

və strategiyalar baxımından xeyli fərqli cəhətlərə malikdirlər. Bunun səbəbləri isə müxtəlifdir,

bəzən güc istəkləri, mədəniyyətdən gələn fərqlər və yaxud sadəcə dəyər prinsiplərinin

müxtəlifliyi əhəmiyyətli rol oynayır.

Açar sözlər: Danimarka, Norveç, İsveç, inkişaf naminə əməkdaşlıq, siyasət.

                                                  vi

Contents

Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... i

Dedication ........................................................................................................................................ i

Glossary ......................................................................................................................................... iii

Abstract ............................................................................................................................................v

List of tables ....................................................................................................................................x

1.     Introduction ..............................................................................................................................1

     1.1.     Research aim .....................................................................................................................2

     1.2.     Research questions ............................................................................................................3

     1.3.     Theoretical framework ......................................................................................................3

       1.3.1.        Neorealism .................................................................................................................4

       1.3.2.        Sociological institutionalism .....................................................................................7

       1.3.3.        Foreign policy analysis ............................................................................................11

     1.4.     Compatibility of the theoretical and analytical choices ..................................................13

     1.5.     Methods, methodology and materials .............................................................................15

       1.5.1.        Method of difference ...............................................................................................15

       1.5.2.        Secondary methods ..................................................................................................16

     1.6.     Structure ..........................................................................................................................17

     1.7.     Limitations ......................................................................................................................19

2.     Introduction to the cases .........................................................................................................20

     2.1.     Denmark ..........................................................................................................................22

       2.1.1.        Focus areas ..............................................................................................................22

                                                                         vii

2.1.2.       Geographic allocations ............................................................................................25

       2.1.3.       Institutional structure ...............................................................................................26

       2.1.4.       Political system ........................................................................................................27

     2.2.    Norway ............................................................................................................................28

       2.2.1.       Focus areas ..............................................................................................................28

       2.2.2.       Geographic allocations ............................................................................................31

       2.2.3.       Institutional structure ...............................................................................................31

       2.2.4.       Political system ........................................................................................................32

     2.3.    Sweden ............................................................................................................................33

       2.3.1.       Focus areas ..............................................................................................................33

       2.3.2.       Geographic allocations ............................................................................................36

       2.3.3.       Institutional structure ...............................................................................................37

       2.3.4.       Political system ........................................................................................................38

3.     Literature Review ...................................................................................................................39

4.     Analysis ..................................................................................................................................48

     4.1.    Similarities ......................................................................................................................48

       4.1.1.       Peculiarity of the geographic focus .........................................................................49

     4.2.    Differences ......................................................................................................................50

       4.2.1.       Difference in aid budget ..........................................................................................50

       4.2.2.       Difference in focus areas .........................................................................................55

       4.2.3.       Difference in institutional structure .........................................................................58

     4.3.    The Good Country Index ................................................................................................61

                                                                        viii

5.    Reflection on results and further analysis ..............................................................................65

6.    Conclusion..............................................................................................................................69

References .....................................................................................................................................75

                                                                       ix

List of tables

Table 1: Aid indicators ..................................................................................................................21

Table 2: GDP per capita & GNI per capita for 2019 .....................................................................50

Table 3: ODA/GNI ratio for 2019 .................................................................................................50

Table 4: Results for each Good Country Index category ..............................................................62

                                                                     x

1. Introduction

Development Cooperation is a relatively new concept in International Relations that has been

carried out only after the Second World War. The term is used to define assistance of a

development actor to a developing country for achieving the social and economic progress in the

latter one. According to the United Nations / UN, development cooperation activity is not-for-

profit, based on cooperative relationships and aims to support international and national

development priorities.1 The term remains almost synonymous with financial aid or, even more

narrowly, with Official Development Assistance / ODA, while also keeps its broader definition

that includes, for instance, market flows, Foreign Direct Investment / FDI transfers, international

public goods etc.2 Development cooperation is usually analyzed and sometimes mixed with

humanitarian aid. The main difference is that it is relatively for longer term, while humanitarian

aid is an immediate assistance for relieving crises and emergency situations. Development

cooperation is carried out in bilateral, regional or multilateral forms. As it is understood from the

names of forms, bilateral is an assistance of a state to another state, regional is aid to a particular

region and multilateral is aid provided through the multilateral organizations. It is also worth

mentioning that bilateral aid can be channeled through multilateral organizations as well while

keeping its original form.

There are four main agreements that define international framework of global development

cooperation till 2030: Sustainable Development Goals / SDGs, Addis Ababa Action Agenda on

Financing for Development, The Paris Climate Agreement and the Sendai Framework for

Disaster Risk Reduction. SDGs are 17 objectives defined by the UN for achieving till 2030 and

they are collectively known under the name Agenda 2030. Addis Ababa Action Agenda sets out

how the SDGs are to be financed and the responsibility of states, institutions, industry, the

1
  J. A. Alonso and J. Glennie, “What is development cooperation?”, 2016 Development Cooperation Forum Policy
Briefs, 2015, https://www.un.org/en/ecosoc/newfunct/pdf15/2016_dcf_policy_brief_no.1.pdf (Accessed 1 Feb
2021)
2
  Ibid.
                                                      1

international community and civil society. Paris Climate Agreement is the first global, legally

binding action plan on how the world will succeed in slowing down the global warming to below

two degrees. Last but not least, Sendai Framework is an agreement outlining how the world will

reduce risk and consequences of disasters.3

The Scandinavian countries have a unique model of welfare policies that are successful in

economic effectiveness with social benefits. All three are highly developed (ranked in top ten)

according to the UN Development Report.4 Moreover, the Scandinavians are in the top ten for

Good Country Index, meaning that they are in a group of nations contributing to the world

outside their own borders more than other countries.5 They are considered democratic,

progressive and with peaceful foreign policies.

The countries have had different historical experiences but with similar aspects in World War II.

All three of them did not have a forceful defense at that time.6 Yet, while Denmark and Norway

got occupied by Germany, Sweden maintained impartiality during WWII. After the war Sweden

chose neutrality and other two joined the NATO military alliance. I will discuss whether NATO

membership has an impact on development cooperation policy at the later stage.

    1.1. Research aim

There has been conducted a substantial number of researches on how the international assistance

works and many countries have been analyzed to understand the donor and recipient

perspectives. However, little has been done to figure out the similarities and differences of

3
  Openaid, Sustainable Development Goals and the Climate Agreement, 2020, https://openaid.se/en/about-
swedish-aid/sustainable-development-goals-and-the-climate-agreement (Accessed 2nd Feb 2021)
4
  United Nations Development Programme, 2020 Human Development Report,
http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/latest-human-development-index-ranking (Accessed 2nd Feb 2021)
5
  The Good Country Index 2020, https://index.goodcountry.org (Accessed 3rd Feb 2021)
6
  H. Stenius et. al., "Nordic Narratives of the Second World War: National Historiographies Revisited", Nordic
Academic Press, 2011, p.11
                                                         2

development actors in close proximity. When it comes to the European countries, abundant

literature is on the EU development cooperation as an important deliver from the region.

The growing scale and importance of development cooperation in foreign policies as well as

prevalence of single-country approach or generalizing North or EU perspective in existing

literature leave a room for more comparative studies of similar actors. This thesis will, therefore,

scrutinize the Scandinavian countries on development cooperation policies and analyze the

reasons of variations. It is estimated that the paper will be useful for future researchers on topics

related to similar development cooperation policies with an example of the Scandinavian

countries.

   1.2. Research questions

This research aims to find answers to the following questions:

   1) What are the differences and similarities in development cooperation objectives and

       policies of the three Scandinavian countries?

   2) How can the differences and similarities be accounted from theoretical perspectives?

   1.3. Theoretical framework

In this subchapter the theoretical framework will be described. I will introduce both theories of

structural realism (neorealism) and sociological institutionalism more thoroughly and provide

theoretical background based on reviewed literatures. Both theories have immense role within

the International Relations theories and apart from it, there are some more reasons of theory

choices that I will talk about later in this subchapter. I will also refer to the foreign policy

analysis branch and mobilize its models for explaining domestic politics of the countries. In

order to understand external and internal drivers of policies, I will explore mechanisms of
                                                 3

political culture as well as its role and impact on decisions. Subsequently, there will be

developed an explicit reflection on the compatibility of theoretical and analytical choices.

         1.3.1. Neorealism

Starting with the neorealist theory, it is from a group of realism. The first assumption of the

realism: state is a principle actor in international relations, its decision-makers are rational actors

and the actions are in the pursuit of national interests.7 Realism suggests that states live in a

context of anarchy and they “attempt to manage their state’s affairs in order to survive in a

competitive environment”.8

Neorealism can be considered a modernized version of realism and a conducive approach for

explaining foreign policies. As a continuation of realism, it has also deductive reasoning. The

main formulator of this theory is a political scientist, Kenneth Waltz, who contributed to the

theory in their book “Theory of International Politics” in 1979. According to Waltz, all states are

in the system of international anarchy and that crises are produced due to the resistance of a state

against the change initiated by another state.9 Unlike in realism, where the central role is put on

human nature and repetitive patterns of behaviors determined by examples from the past, Waltz

emphasize the structure of international system to be the determinant of state behavior.10 They

suggest to examine the characteristics of international system rather than to delve into the flaws

in human nature for reviewing the state actions.11 They also explain how power shifts and

change of capacities alter the international system and state behavior accordingly. Waltz’s

interpretation is considered a new era in IR as they attempted to use social scientific methods

rather than political theory or philosophical methods. Their variables, like international anarchy,

the degree of state power, etc. are empirically or physically measurable, while the ideas like

7
  S. Antunes and I. Camisao, “Realism” in the Book “International Relations Theory”, ed. S. McGlinchey et al.,
Bristol: E-International Relations, 2017, p.15
8
  Ibid.
9
  K. N. Waltz, “Theory of International Politics”, USA: Waveland Press, 1979, p.171
10
   S. Antunes and I. Camisao, “Realism”, pp.16-17
11
   Ibid.
                                                         4

human nature are mere assumptions based on certain philosophical views and they cannot be

measured in the same way.12

Driven by the structural realism, one may say that countries hierarchize international interests

below their own. Waltz explains it in the example of a distinction between micro- and macro-

theories. By this example they highlight that placing international interest above national one is

meaningless. Through comparing the micro- and macroeconomic theories, they describe

importance of individual state and practice of prioritization of national interests. Waltz says that

the difference between two theories is found in the way the objects of their study – international

politics is approached and explained. According to them, macro-theory of international politics

would lack the practical implications of macroeconomic theory. Case in point, the national

governments can manipulate economic variables, while no agencies possess such capacities at

international level. Even if such theory existed for international politics, we would still have to

revert to micropolitical approach in order to examine the conditions for individual state as well

as collaborative and collective actions, as claimed by Waltz.13

Neorealism has some strong and weak sides. First of all, it allows to develop a wide range of

studies thanks to its basis in realism. Realism, in its turn, can describe more accurately than any

other IR theory the real political situation and according to Antunes and Camisao, it is utilized

more often than other theories in the world of policymaking.14 Neorealism is sometimes also

called realism, considering it a continuation of older theory. It claims that war is possible at any

time in international politics, which is palpable in view of the modern wars despite the ongoing

efforts to maintain international peace and security. Antunes and Camisao discuss the US

invasion of Iraq in 2003 as a part of the Global War on Terror and explain the realist perspective

of this action: “a misuse of power that would not serve US national interests”.15 Most leading

12
   Ibid.
13
   K. N. Waltz, “Theory of International Politics”, pp.109-110
14
   S. Antunes and I. Camisao, “Realism”, p.17
15
   Ibid.20
                                                          5

realists, at that time, opposed the US actions and predicted possibility of blowback and

resentment in the region caused by the disproportionate use of the US military power. Indeed, in

this case, the theory yielded strong results, as the role of Islamic State group has grown in the

years after Iraq invasion.16 According to the authors, realist theories provide valuable insights

into the reasons of state behaviors and why they are judged more according to ethics of

responsibility for national security rather than to moral principles.17 There are also some

criticisms on both realism and structural realism. In particular, the theories are criticized for not

being able to predict or explain the end of Cold War in 1991. There have been many scholars

touching upon this issue and I will mention some of them subsequently later in this thesis paper.

Although, the end was not prognosed or plausibly parsed by theories beforehand, it seems like a

natural process of rivalry in life cycle. Just like in industry life cycle, the rivalry between US and

Soviet Union reemerged after cleaning the international system from multipolarity, grew with

some significant events like the Cuban Missile Crisis, reached maturity in cycle and then went

down to an end. Moreover, nowadays, the same polarity cycle repeats itself with some

differences of power shifts, transformation etc. and theories arrived after the end of Cold War are

often accounted for the same repetition and a pattern of state behaviors that old theories, like

realism, associated with. I will discuss this issue more in the foreign policy analysis in this

chapter but according to critics of realism, the theory holds outdated thinking and its structural

continuation is indeterminant for political events.18 Another weak side and difference of

neorealism is in structural constraints. The theory focuses majorly on international anarchic

system and to some extent disregards the changes of domestic factors, though they do also play

important role in policymaking. Moreover, the theory has a pessimistic nature but its proponents

16
   Ibid.21
17
   Ibid.16-17
18
   J. L. Gaddis, “International Relations Theory and the End of the Cold War”, International Security 17(3), 1992/93,
pp.5-58, cited in L. Neack et al., “Foreign Policy Analysis”, p.246
                                                          6

call it prudence as it helps to realize the coming predicaments.19 The hypothesis derived from

this theory is as following:

The development cooperation policies of Denmark, Norway and Sweden pursue power objectives

with possible differences based on their relative powers at international level and national

interests.

         1.3.2. Sociological institutionalism

The second theory of this study is sociological institutionalism. Institutionalism is an important

and prominently applied theory within IR, economics, sociology and in many other social

sciences. As it is understood from the name, its primary focus is the study of institutions through

different methods and approaches. There are seven versions of institutionalism discussed in the

book of Peters.20 They compare the old and new institutionalisms and present some significant

differences in methodology, techniques and even in ideas.21 The new institutionalism, which

includes sociological also, debates more about behavioral individuality, while the old one is

constrained with rational reasoning of individual collectivity.22

Sociological institutionalism is basically institutionalism in sociology. It arose primarily within

the subfield of organization theory which explains the behaviors of individuals in a group toward

the common goal. The theory seeks to explain diffusion of actions because sociology favors

generalizations over details. According to sociological institutionalists, the relationship between

institutions and individual action is highly interactive and mutually constitutive. Hall and Taylor,

who wrote one of the first overviews on the theory, say that when actors act as a social

convention specifies, they engage in socially meaningful acts and reinforce the convention to

19
   S. Antunes and I. Camisao, “Realism”, p.17
20
   B. G. Peters, “Institutional Theory: The “New Institutionalism” in Political Science”, 2nd edn, London: Continuum
International Publishing Group, 2012
21
   Ibid.5-18
22
   Ibid.
                                                          7

which they are adhering, so the actions are tightly bound up with interpretation.23 In that sense,

sociological institutionalism examines how actors copy each other in following the norms and

commonly set rules and assumes that culture and identity are the main source of different actions

and interests. There have been done substantial researches on the relationship between

sociological factors and states’ policymaking choices and political culture is the most commonly

used normative variable. Political culture can be defined as historical differences in attitudes,

habits and concerns across states.24 The supporters of sociological institutionalism claim that

organizations adopt new institutional practice or reform not because it increases the efficiency,

though sometimes it may even prove ineffective for achieving the formal goals, but because it

enhances the social legitimacy and the vision of moral values.25

Taking the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals / SDGs as a continuation of the Millennium

Development Goals / MDGs into account, we can see the vivid example of sociological

institutionalist frame to this social convention. Moving from economy-based Washington

Consensus to MDGs and then increasing the global goals from 8 in MDGs to 17 SDGs was

challenging to achieve, however, it was highly upholding the moral values and more

comprehensive approach to the global sustainable development. As sociological institutionalists

highlight a cultural approach and institutional categories as well as model for influencing

individual behaviors, we may say the same about global goals and how individual states imitate

SDGs in their development policies. The development policies of Scandinavian countries are

closely aligned with the global development agenda as of many other actors, nevertheless, every

actor shapes its development policy differently. Case in point, the goal of no poverty / SDG 1 is

present in agenda of almost all development actors. However, each agency or state implements it

through different initiatives and programs. While some focus more on good governance and

23
   P. A. Hall, R. C. R. Taylor, “Political Science and the Three New Institutionalisms”, MPIFG Discussion Paper 96/6,
1996, p.15, https://www.mpifg.de/pu/mpifg_dp/dp96-6.pdf (Accessed 7th Feb 2021)
24
   E. A. Miller and J. B. Holl, “Cognitive and Normative Determinants of State Policymaking Behavior: Lessons from
the Sociological Institutionalism”, Publius 35(2), 2005, p.192, www.jstor.org/stable/4624709 (Accessed 9th Mar
2021)
25
   P. A. Hall, R. C. R. Taylor, “Political Science and the Three New Institutionalisms”, pp.16-20
                                                          8

capacity building for more transparent development, others value the economic empowerment

more through supporting the self-employment and bilateral business opportunities. At the end of

the day, all of these focus areas serve to the goal of poverty reduction as of the SDG 1 targets.

The sociological institutionalist point here might be that every development actor copies each

other in project areas and the methodological difference comes from a cultural background and

identity. The more thorough investigation of this perspective for Scandinavian countries will be

presented at later stage.

DiMaggio and Powell argue that the phenomenon of organizations copying each other is due to

the imperative of isomorphism. They distinct three types, namely mimetic, normative and

coercive isomorphisms.26 Their succeeders Miller and Holl group these forms into horizontal and

vertical isomorphisms. Miller and Holl refer the mimetic isomorphism, where actors copy

prominent actors in order to be considered legitimate and successful, and normative

isomorphism, where states accept normative standards promoted by professionals, as horizontal

isomorphism. The vertical one is classified with coercive isomorphism, where states submit to

formal rules and informal pressures promulgated by more powerful actors. Apart from horizontal

isomorphism, states are also subject to pressures of more powerful states as well as of cultural

expectations within their respective societies. For researches like my thesis, such grouping of

isomorphisms and exegesis facilitates defining state policies from different stances. Miller and

Holl advocate that sociological institutionalist framework can enable comparative state policy

researchers to better integrate the rational-actor and cultural-based views for understanding the

reasons of state’s particular public policies.27 According to them, sociological institutionalists

postulate a process of “institutional isomorphism”, through which actors become increasingly

26
   P. J. DiMaggio and W. W. Powell, "The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in
organizational fields", American Sociological Review, 1983, pp.147−160 cited in E. A. Miller and J. B. Holl,
“Cognitive and Normative Determinants of State Policymaking Behavior: Lessons from the Sociological
Institutionalism”, p.196
27
   E. A. Miller and J. B. Holl, “Cognitive and Normative Determinants of State Policymaking Behavior”, p.191
                                                          9

similar, because they “adopt emergent, socially defined elements and legitimated practices”,

promoted by the broader institutional environment.28

Like in all theories, there are some strengths and shortcomings of sociological institutionalism as

well. The theory considers cognitive and normative imperatives in policy adoptions and say that

decision-makers are challenged to comply with norms, cultural rules and expectations. In its

nature this theory is similar to constructivism, as they both construct knowledge on state actions

generated from situations. Sociological institutionalism has in-depth reflections on societal

norms and can explain the cultural environment of institutional context. Its holistic ontology can

be considered a strong side. The theory considers a wide range of factors in explanation and

attempts to elucidate distinction between normative regulations and coercive mechanisms for

decisionmakers. It can be particularly useful in theorizing state behaviors for comparative policy

analysis. However, it is worth noting the disadvantages of this theory as well. Critics of

sociological institutionalism point often at difficulties in explaining institutional change. The

theory supporters mostly focus on explaining continuity, and institutional change for them is

more of a diffusion via isomorphism rather than metamorphosis, or so to say, transformation.

Fligstein and McAdam, for instance, say that sociological institutional theory lacks basal

explanation of how circumstances transform that actors follow rules by imitation, coercion or

with conscience.29 With all the value of criticism toward sociological institutionalism and other

research theories, I will discuss this issue in more details during reflection chapter. Meanwhile, I

share the hypothesis driven from this theory as following:

The similarities in development cooperation policies of Denmark, Norway and Sweden are based

on a shared adherence to international norms, as supported by sociological theories of

institutions that emphasize the “logics of appropriateness” with rationale for norm compliance.

28
   M. T. Dacin, “Isomorphism In Context: The Power And Prescription Of Institutional Norms” Academy of
Management Journal 40(1), 1997, p.48, cited in E. A. Miller and J. B. Holl, “Cognitive and Normative Determinants
of State Policymaking Behavior”, p. 196
29
   N. Fligstein and D. McAdam, "A theory of fields", UK: Oxford University Press, 2012, p.28
                                                        10

1.3.3. Foreign policy analysis

Foreign policy analysis is more concrete and practical than IR theories. 30 The branch does not

have its own specific level of analysis, but it can be defined as a dependent variable of foreign

policy itself which in my case is development cooperation policy in Scandinavia.31 Neack et al.

compare and discuss the first and second generations of foreign policy analysis. According to

them, the first-generation analysis, or as it is sometimes called comparative foreign policy, aimed

to move from “noncumulative descriptive case studies” toward constructing a “parsimonious

explanation” of what drives the states' foreign policy behavior.32 Comparative foreign policy

analysis for the Scandinavian countries is conducted by Stokke, where they discuss policy

drivers of each country in Scandinavia. Their analysis is contributive to my research and I will

cover it in literature review. Back to the book by Neack et al., they explain the second-generation

scholarship and their work helps to understand the connection of theory with practice of foreign

policy as well as observe dissimilarities between generations. The second-generation scholarship

arrived with the “cognitive revolution” in the study of attitudes in early 1970s.33 Close to the

theory of sociological institutionalism, its main focus is on belief system and cognitive factors

rather than other foreign policy sources like domestic political, bureaucratic or systemic factors

from the first-generation. The authors also mention that general evolution from first to second

generation did not terminate the first generational development, some scholars continued to

pursue first-generation questions and the shift between generations was considered neither

complete nor specific to a particular year.34 They discuss the work of diplomatic historian Gaddis

on the inability of IR theories to forecast the end of Cold War with recognizable accuracy.

According to them, the primary critique of Gaddis was inadequate theories with methodological

30
   J. F. Morin, J. Paquin, "Foreign Policy Analysis. A Toolbox", Palgrave Macmillan, 2018, p.1
31
   Ibid.2
32
   L. Neack et al., “Foreign Policy Analysis: Continuity and Change in Its Second Generation”, Cambridge, MA:
Prentice Hall, 1995, p.3
33
   Ibid.53
34
   Ibid.3
                                                        11

constraints.35 After the Cold War, many theories were criticized for not only predictive capacities

but also for their explanatory power. One of my thesis theories, structural realism was the

primary target and was labelled as indeterminant. The authors explain realist perspective on this

criticism and state that realists have always acknowledged domestic factors but consider the

competition in international system with more important role.36 That being so, one may say the

break-down of the Soviet Union is a domestic phenomenon caused by different factors, including

the power competition at international level.

Another book for exploring the foreign policy analysis is “The Essence of Decision: Explaining

the Cuban Missile Crisis”. This book helps to better understand how policy decisions are made

and the role of domestic factors in decision making processes. Although it fits for accounting

mainly US politics, theoretical and analytical perspectives are relevant for Scandinavian

countries as well. I will touch upon the domestic political factors of Scandinavian countries and

will explore their impact on respective development policies at later stage. The authors of the

book, Allison and Zelikow, explain foreign policy drivers of some countries and through the

cases, illustrate three models of foreign policy analysis, namely the governmental politics, the

organizational behavior and the rational actor models. The first model looks at multiple actors

involved in policy-making, each with interests of its own, and at the end, results are favorable for

some but not all.37 The second model examines foreign policy behaviors like actions taken by

government in accordance with enacted routines of loosely allied organizations, whose functions

are based on standard patterns of behaviors.38 The third model is characterized by assumption

that the main actor – national government calculates and makes a reasonable choice for solving a

strategic problem and maximizing benefits of the state.39 Summarizing the models: rational actor

considers a government an individual entity who is the main player, governmental politics –

35
   J. L. Gaddis, “International Relations Theory and the End of the Cold War”, p.246
36
   Ibid.247
37
   G. Allison and P. Zelikow, “Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis”, 2nd edn, Addison-Wesley
Educational Publishers Inc., 1999, p.255
38
   Ibid.143
39
   Ibid.15
                                                         12

multiple actors as main players and organizational behavior – decision making with involvement

of more participants than just government and its surroundings. The branch of foreign policy

analysis and its models are closely connected with domestic factors and can be associated with

the thesis theories.

Before proceeding further with compatibility of theoretical and analytical choices, I would like

to derive a hypothesis founded on domestic politics:

The Scandinavian countries are increasingly different from each other, due to differing roles of

the “right-wing populist parties.”

     1.4. Compatibility of the theoretical and analytical choices

In line with the above-mentioned hypotheses, I will combine the theories with foreign policy

analysis models in order to construct validity and develop the thesis from a wide-ranging point.

Neorealism and sociological institutionalism are chosen because together, they are a good set of

theories to produce a variety of interesting perspectives. Structural realism is usually combined

with liberalism or constructivism in literature. With these theories, neorealism can have an

agreement but with sociological institutionalism, they are intended for different purposes. For

instance, both neorealism and neoliberalism agree that the international system is anarchic with

differences in desires.40 Constructivism is also widely applied together with neorealism. It argues

completely opposite of neorealist perspective but their dichotomy produces significant debates

on functioning of the international system. Though it is not typical in literature to mix neorealism

with sociological institutionalism, I argue that choosing theories from different spheres enriches

the content of theoretical framework. That is to say, many theories, including sociological

institutionalism, focus on patterned behaviors, copying nature of actors and the effects of

40
  See for instance K. N. Waltz, “Theory of International Politics” and K. A. Oye, “Explaining Cooperation under
Anarchy: Hypotheses and Strategies”, World Politics 38 (1), 1985, pp.1-24
                                                        13

institutional arrangements in society. According to them, states and non-state actors have roles

and they are forced to play their roles. Neorealism, in its turn, complements studies with such

theories, by explaining the political maneuvering in state behaviors. Furthermore, since

development cooperation is regarded as a help action and mostly based on altruism, realist

theories can provide interesting results for checking the self-centered interests. Other than that,

this mixture between theories is favorable for testing the thoughts about development

cooperation from different spheres and fields of inquiry. Sociological institutionalism is

inductive theory that looks for external explanations. So, we can say that this research is not only

comparison of Scandinavian countries, but also theories, aiming to test deductive against

inductive theory. By applying different types of theories, I check their compatibilities and try to

contribute with something novel. When it comes to foreign policy analysis choice, shortly, it

deals with the theory development and empirical research of foreign policy results. Since in the

EU context, Scandinavian countries are regarded as Nordic model with similar policies and

culture, it will be interesting to check their differences from analytical perspective. Political

culture, in its turn, is relevant for connecting sociological institutionalism with foreign policy

analysis from domestic perspective. It explains how culture influences politics and helps to

create an order and meaning to political processes as well as elucidates behaviors in a political

system. In fact, it is connected with sociological institutionalism on norm compliance. Political

culture will be indeed useful in keeping the balance and connection between neorealism and

neoinstitutional theory. It can also be considered another explanation to the compatibility of the

theories: the role of patterned behaviors in social relations of a state is relevant to the impact of

international system on state behavior. After seeing the findings from country cases, I will

provide more reflections on the topic of compatibility. This will follow during the analysis

chapter and more specifically, in argumentation of the differences between policy objectives and

focus areas.

                                                 14

1.5. Methods, methodology and materials

In this subchapter the methods and materials will be discussed. I will also present reasoning of

my choices along with limitations of the study.

         1.5.1. Method of difference

This study is a comparative analysis of the development cooperation policies of Scandinavian

countries. According to Della Porta, comparative analysis attempts to establish empirical

relations between small number cases and the comparative method has capacity to go beyond

descriptive statistical measures towards an in-depth understanding of events and individual

motivations.41 My research is conducted mainly through the John Mill's method of difference. In

their book “System of Logic”, Mill gives a broad explanation of this method as the most

common approach for a small number of research problems in political science with inductive

reasoning. According to them, this method is applicable for causal search and for examining the

highly similar cases with difference in the outcome of interests. Mill contrasts this method with

several other methods, including the method of agreement, which, unlike the method of

difference, is applicable for highly different cases. With the method of difference, if one of the

assessed factors varies between cases, and the outcome is contrasting, it explains that the

independent factor is the probable cause of the outcome.42 Della Porta compares this method

with statistical method and elaborates case selection and logical tools. According to them,

statistical analyses look for measuring dependency between variables with mostly regression,

while comparative analyses look for similarities and differences. 43 As statistical analysis is more

instrumental for explaining the logic for generalization, though explanation is not applicable for

41
   D. Della Porta, “Comparative analysis: case-oriented versus variable-oriented research”, in the book
“Approaches and Methodologies in the Social Sciences: A Pluralist Perspective”, ed. D. Della Porta, M. Keating,
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008, pp.201-202
42
   J. S. Mill, “A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive, Being a Connected View of the Principles of Evidence,
and the Methods of Scientific Investigation”, 8th edn, New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, Franklin Square
Press, 1882, pp.478-562
43
   D. Della Porta, “Comparative analysis: case-oriented versus variable-oriented research”, p.204
                                                          15

each single case, Mill’s method of difference is considered conducive for comparative analysis

of cases on certain phenomenon.

Like in all methods, there are some shortcomings with the method of difference as well. The first

and most mentioned one is a low external validity. According to Mill, one of the problems with

this method is deterministic causality, which means the cause produce effect and the conclusions

of the study, most of the time, are not applicable outside the context of that study. They suggest

that the independent variables in studies with the method of difference should be kept simple as

the more complicated implementation, the harder this method is to apply.44 Therefore, my

independent variables are concise and simple as will be presented in analysis chapter. In order to

enhance the internal validity of my study, I will try to keep the trustworthiness of my outcomes

high by testing it through the findings from literature review.

           1.5.2. Secondary methods

Apart from the main method of the study, there will be applied some other qualitative methods

for data acquisition and analysis, like documents as sources from governmental websites and

secondary analysis of data from OECD DAC. Due to the time-limit of the research and as it

covers three countries, the secondary analysis is more useful for me. During the process of

deciding rhetoric for this research and knowledge to be created, I had choices of investigating in-

depth one country with collecting first-hand data or comparing the three countries with

secondary analysis. Choosing the one country analysis would lead to a different research design,

possibly with quantitative methods and techniques. With no qualm, it would be related to the

field of study, however, there are already abundant existing literature on the thesis countries

separately with trustworthy data that I will cover in literature review. Since the comparative

research would be a good contribution to the established scholarship and would enrich the

comparison of similar actors in their development cooperation policies, I chose the qualitative

44
     J. S. Mill, “A System of Logic”, pp.478-562
                                                   16

research design with secondary analysis and documents as sources. Bryman says that using

documents is less time-consuming and easier to deal with than collecting the primary data which

needs to be processed accordingly. Nevertheless, they also claim that using documents requires

considerable interpretative skill in order to “ascertain the meaning of the materials that have been

uncovered.”45 Secondary analysis is chosen as it allows the researcher to mine data that were not

thoroughly examined by primary investigators or there may be room for new interpretations.46

As with all methods, there are some weaknesses of the secondary research methods as well. Still,

the commonly mentioned disadvantages like incompleteness, omission or obsolescence are not

significant for this research, due to the available practical solutions through internet sources. The

existing data for this study is going to be analyzed for getting new interpretations as well as for

delivering different input. For data, I apply to the official documents derived from state sources,

mass-media outputs along with books concerning the development cooperation. The primary

sources of information for analysis are statements and reports from Ministries of Foreign Affairs,

development agencies of Denmark, Norway and Sweden: namely Denmark’s development

cooperation / Danida, Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation / Norad, and Swedish

International Development Cooperation Agency / Sida as well as some other related institutions.

The reports of latest years will be examined for useful data. Official sources hold a high degree

of reliability, as all examined governments and agencies possess a good reputation and

transparent approach. Moreover, the statistical data of these sources are published and used in

different websites and articles, showing a high mark of trustworthiness.

       1.6. Structure

I will try to follow the order of coherent research design in order to effectively integrate all study

components and in-depth cover the research topic. In the next chapter, I will define the policy

45
     A. Bryman, “Social Research Methods”, 4th edn, New York: Oxford University Press Inc., 2012, p.543
46
     Ibid.586
                                                          17

indicators, present the collected data for three countries and compile the results into separate

subchapters. This chapter will contain the main data for later analysis of the results. Afterwards,

I will explore the existing literature on the topic, present studies of different scholars as well as

commentate on their works. The literature will provide both additional data for discussion and

broader perspectives on development assistance. Following this, I will start analysis chapter,

where I am going to present the found similarities, differences, specific reasons and theoretical

interpretations. Moreover, I will also talk about the Good Country Index and the results of

Scandinavian countries in it. The reason why I chose Good Country Index is due to its wider

coverage both geographically and by category. I could also use the Commitment to Development

Index / CDI, that I will mention during the literature chapter, but since it only covers 40

countries and its results are very similar to the Good Country Index, I decided to stick with the

latter. Good Country Index assesses the countries for not only development assistance but overall

contribution to the global common good. It has also more challenging results, when it comes to

peace and security contributions of countries. As with the Good Country Index 2020, the CDI

2020 results of the Scandinavian countries are also in top ten. In CDI 40 countries are assessed

according to seven categories, namely development finance, investment, migration, trade,

environment, security and technology.47 All of these areas are included in the Good Country

Index, and we will see more about it in the analysis chapter. The following chapter of Good

Country Index will be on reflections and recommendations for future researches. I will

summarize my findings, discuss scholarly views and theories as well as present ideas of possible

further researches in the area. Later on, the conclusion will follow regarding the research

questions. I will provide the answers derived from this research and finalize the thesis.

47
     The Commitment to Development Index 2020, https://www.cgdev.org/cdi#/ (Accessed 3rd Feb 2021)
                                                      18

1.7. Limitations

Spoken of earlier with the main method, there are some limitations to this research. The first

issue is inability to undertake field research due to the pandemic circumstances. For that reason,

the analysis of related literature and documents will be the methodology of this study. Another

risk is individuality of the topic, so to say difficulties with external validity. Apart from it, as the

case countries are very similar, the comparison may end up invalid. There is also a risk that the

countries lack variation and that the final result is not representative to a greater number of cases.

With all these limitations in mind, I will try to cover as many reliable sources as possible to

verify the findings of my research and adhere to comprehensiveness. Although this study will not

be fully applicable to all major development cooperation actors in the world, but, as it is

mentioned in the beginning, this study will be contributive in terms of analyzing the similar

development actors within an example of the Scandinavian countries. These countries are

generalized under the Nordic model in Europe and exploring them more in-depth can be

contributive for getting interesting results and new perspectives on differences of similar actors.

Nevertheless, the analysis based on official documents can herald about methodological problem

as the extent to which we can trust official documents for assessing how the countries are similar

or how they differ is questionable. While the policy papers can present one strategy, the real-life

implementation can be different. Therefore, I will refer to already existing field researches from

literature to facilitate more reliable contrast of policy on paper and in implementation. Another

limitation of this research to be mentioned is a time constraint. Due to the limited time of

research, the topic is open for further studies and new interpretations.

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