Steven Arnfjord's book, Greenland's social policy – the formation of an Arctic welfare society, provides a thorough and well-arranged review of the development of Greenland's social policy over the past century – with particular emphasis on the recent decades' reforms and strategic initiatives.
It ranges from the area of children and youth to the elderly, the disabled, the homeless and the long-term unemployed.
A common point is the significant discrepancy between political ambitions and the actual social reality. According to the author, at one point, there were as many as 71 (high-flying!) active strategies in the Self-Government, some of which deal with the social area. In addition, there is the incorporation of UN rights and a persistent political rhetoric about improvements.
Despite much action on the part of the Self-Government, the social problems remain extensive. We know the numbers – they speak their own language. And it is precisely this gap between will and effect that Arnfjord is focusing on.
The strength of the book lies in the analysis of the implementation phase. Once the National Assembly has adopted the laws and the departments have prepared orders and guidelines, the most difficult phase begins: practical implementation in the municipalities. This is where the challenges arise.
The municipal manager who asks: »Now there is a strategy for the homeless, but how are we going to introduce it?«, precisely frames the problem. Strategies are adopted – but getting them into practice is lagging.
To shed light on this problem, Arnfjord draws on the American political scientist Michael Lipsky and his concept of street-level bureaucracy. In civil servant language, this means: the frontline workers – social workers, educators, teachers and nurses – who ultimately implement the legislation in their encounters with citizens.
Lipsky's point is clear: A reform is only implemented when it works in practice. Here, the book makes a significant contribution to understanding why many Greenlandic reforms lose their power along the way.
As a former lecturer in public administration at Ilisimatusarfik I have often wondered why the public administration profession has not had a stronger position at the university in a society with a relatively large public sector.
That is precisely why Arnfjord's book emphasizes the importance of research into implementation and administrative processes. It is an obvious – and perhaps also the most obvious – place to start if one wants to strengthen the function of the welfare system.
It is in continuation of Lipsky's research that one – as a reporter – can frame the issue in a classic is/should discussion. Politicians often formulate how society should be, but implementation is confronted with how it actually is. When legislation is designed based on the ideal state rather than the concrete realities in the municipalities, it becomes difficult to implement.
An older example could be “The Good School” from 2002, where school buildings had to be expanded significantly to meet the reform’s ambitions, illustrating this tension. More than twenty years after its adoption, the intentions are far from being fully realized.
The book also has its (few) weaknesses. In several places, the conclusions appear relatively predictable. When the collective is implicitly presented as normatively desirable and the individual as problematic, a more developed analysis is lacking. It may well be that this assessment is correct, but the reader could have been presented with clearer argumentation and empirical support. Overall, Greenland’s social policy – the formation of an Arctic welfare society is an important and timely publication. It focuses on the difficult art of implementation and points to the need for systematic evaluations if reforms are to have real impact. The book thus contributes significantly to the social debate in Greenland – not least because it keeps the focus on those it is all about: the most vulnerable citizens.
Steven Arnfjord: Greenland's social policy – the formation of an Arctic welfare society. 268 pages, U press.
