“Susanne Hegelund and Peter Mose don’t use much PolSci lingo in their new and fascinating book about the top echelons of the Danish civil service, “Javel, hr. minister”, but effectively this is the question behind the stories and analyses (…) Like its predecessor “Håndbog for statsministre” it is a journalistic study of a part of the political arena which has rarely or never been the object of a systematic academic inquiry. It has all of the virtues of journalistic writing (be vivid, be specific), (…) and it is surprisingly comprehensive in its coverage (public administration researchers will appreciate that a general coordination ministry is covered as well as a professional (Education, Foreign Office) and a clitentelistic (Transport) (…) if you have a personal or professional interest in Danish politics, it should be on your reading list.“ Jacob Christensen, political scientist, Ph.D.
“Peter is the author of the must read book, Handbook for Prime Ministers. Read it if you want to understand Danish politics in the new century“. Fleming Voetmann, founder of Rostra Kommunikation.
The “Handbook for Prime Ministers” deals with political leadership as expressed in practice in the Danish parliament—and with the requirements that will be made on political leaders in the future. The book is based on 150 interviews with Danish civil servants, politicians, business leaders and experts.
“In actual fact, when it comes to major economic issues, it is possible to trace a straight line that runs from Schlüter’s leadership in the 1980s, through Nyrup’s time as Prime Minister in the 1990s, to Anders Fogh Rasmussen today.The three Prime Ministers [from the Conservative People’s Party, the Social Democrats and the Liberals, respectively] all worked on the same “house”, which has made the “business” that is Denmark one of the most profitable in the world for several consecutive years.They have not knocked down what their predecessors built up, but have carried on building by adding new floors.”
This Peter Mose and Susanne Hegelund write in their book “Handbook for Prime Ministers” (Mose and Hegelund 2006: 85ff).
“The overriding goal has been to make Denmark one of the most competitive economies in the world.This has been achieved by tough economic control and by co-ordinating policies all the way down to the most insignificant detail in the fields of employment, the labor market and education,”
“The most recent Danish governments have thus continued to work on the same “house”. Despite belonging to different parties, they have managed to agree on the fundamental economic contours regarding Denmark’s development.”