Faroese self-government: development over time and effects of critical junctures

ABSTRACT

The Faroe Islands is receiving increased international attention due to the political changes in the Arctic region. This is causing challenges for the Home Rule model and the Danish Realm. The Faroe Islands have previous experiences with critical junctures that have led to change in self-government settings. Based on historical institutionalism, this article conducts a comparative case study of two previous critical juncture events and time-periods for the Faroe Islands. The first is the Second World War followed by the implementation of the new Home Rule model in 1948, and the second is the severe economic crisis in the 1990s followed by path dependency institutional adaptations to the Home Rule model in 2005. The investigation resembles a different-outcomes comparison and focuses on identifying the contextual political factors of importance and how these factors varied for the two cases. The findings show shifts in the within-case political power balance in opposite directions, changes in the policy space, differences in the Danish state´s position and third-party actor roles as well as differences in terms of international salience of national self-determination norms.

KEYWORDS:

• Faroe Islands
• self-government
• critical junctures
• path dependency
• Danish Realm

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ Adler-Nissen, ”The Faroe Islands: Independence dreams,” 60.

² West, “The Danish Realm in the Arctic.”

³ Thelen, “How Institutions Evolve.”

⁴ Hall & Taylor, “Political Science,” 941; Thelen, “How Institutions Evolve.”

⁵ Thelen, “How Institutions Evolve,” 218–219.

⁶ Thelen, “How Institutions Evolve.”

⁷ Pollack, “Rational Choice and Historical Institutionalism,” 112–113; Mahoney & Thelen, Explaining Institutional Change.

⁸ Thelen, “How Institutions Evolve,” 215.

⁹ Capoccia & Keelmen, “The Study of Critical Junctures.”

¹⁰ Hall & Taylor, “Political Science.”

¹¹ Thelen, “How Institutions Evolve,” 212.

¹² Schattschneider, Party Government.

¹³ Tsebelis, Veto Players, 17. 19.

¹⁴ Hall & Taylor, “Political Science.”

¹⁵ Ingebritsen, “Norm Entrepreneurs: Scandinavia,” 12.

¹⁶ Adler-Nissen & Gad, “Introduction: Postimperial sovereignty games.”

¹⁷ Adler-Nissen, “The Faroe Islands: Independence dreams.”

¹⁸ Møller and Skaaning, “Comparative Methods,” 237–238.

¹⁹ West & Heinesen, Kilder; Skála, 1946.

²⁰ Horni, British and U.S. Postneutrality policy.

²¹ West, MP Firefighting.

²² West, ”Færøsk politik.”

²³ 567 mill. Dkr. The annual public expenses are around 8 bill. Dkr. (Source: Annual Finance Act 2023).

²⁴ Justinussen, ”Rigsfællesskabet.”

²⁵ West & Heinesen, Kilder, doc. 181, 230.

²⁶ For an overview of this debate and dispute, see Justinussen, “Rigsfællesskabet.”

²⁷ Adler-Nissen, “The Faroe Islands: Independence dreams,” 60.

²⁸ West, “Institutional Conditions and Faroese governments.”

²⁹ West, “Færøsk politik”; Jákupsstovu, Kunnskap og makt, 53.

³⁰ For an overview see Løgting 150.

³¹ Løgtingið 150; West, MP Firefighting.

³² Jákupsstovu, Kunnskap og Makt, 30, 40.

³³ West & Heinesen, Kilder, doc. 179.

³⁴ Horni, British and U.S. Postneutrality policy.

³⁵ West & Heinesen, Kilder, doc. 204.

³⁶ Thorsteinsson & Rasmussen, ”Rigsfællesskabet”.

³⁷ West & Heinesen, Kilder, doc. 95.

³⁸ West & Heinesen, Kilder, 33–34: doc. 86.

³⁹ West & Heinesen, Kilder, e.g. 33–38, doc. 86 and 204.

⁴⁰ Ibid., doc. 235, 236, 237.

⁴¹ Skála, 1946, 76.

⁴² West & Heinesen, Kilder, 68, doc. 202.

⁴³ Ibid., 25.

⁴⁴ Assessment based on documents in Skála, 1946 and West & Heinesen, Kilder.

⁴⁵ West & Heinesen, Kilder, doc. 141.

⁴⁶ West, “Færøsk Politik.”

⁴⁷ West, “Institutional Conditions and Faroese governments.”

⁴⁸ West, “The Faroese Sub-State Unit.”

⁴⁹ Source: Prime Minister Office history.

⁵⁰ Ibid.

⁵¹ Adler-Nissen, “The Faroe Islands: Independent dreams,” 61–62.

⁵² The measure: TEV = Σ|Vi,t-1-Vi,t|/2 is from ‘Who Governs in Europe and beyond’ (PSGo). The values for Faroe Islands are from West, “Institutional conditions and Faroese governments,” figure 3.

⁵³ Report, Álit um Stýrisskipanarviðurskifti Føroya.

⁵⁴ Dosenrode & Djurhuus, “Fra Kollegium Til Ministerium”; West, “Færøsk Politik.”

⁵⁵ Report, Frágreiðing um 80-árini.

⁵⁶ Gården, Færø Sagen. Adler-Nissen, “The Faroe Islands: Independence dreams.”

⁵⁷ West, “Institutional Conditions and Faroese Governments.”

⁵⁸ Adler-Nissen, “Faroe Islands: Independence dreams,” 63.

⁵⁹ Møller & Skaaning, Syv myter om demokrati, 161.

⁶⁰ West, “Institutional Conditions and Faroese Governments.”

⁶¹ Thelen, “How Institutions Evolve,” 213.

⁶² West & Heinesen, Kilder, doc. 204.

⁶³ Adler-Nissen & Gad, “Introduction: Postimperial sovereignty,” which, however, refer to this image as a myth.

⁶⁴ West, “Færøsk Politik.”

⁶⁵ Adler-Nissen, “The Faroe Islands: Independence dreams,” 59.

⁶⁶ West & Heinesen, Kilder, doc. 93.

⁶⁷ Skaale, “A Phrase Loaded with Dynamite,” 156–157.

⁶⁸ West & Heinesen, Kilder, 184–185, appendix 2.

⁶⁹ Ibid, 193–194.

⁷⁰ Duursma, Fragmentation, 77–79.

⁷¹ Duursma, Fragmentation, 81.

⁷² Duursma, Fragmentation, 37, 82.

⁷³ West & Heinesen, Kilder, section 4: 204–230. This is, however, a complex question, which for instance is summed up by Lachmann, “The Right to National Self-determination”, and where he argues that this is more than an international legal question.

⁷⁴ Skaale, “A Phrase Loaded with Dynamite,” 162.

⁷⁵ Duursma, Fragmentation, 76, 83: note 390.

⁷⁶ e.g., Lachman, “The Right to National Self-Determination.”

⁷⁷ Parliamentary matter: 5/2001, 20/2002, 31/2006, 114/2006, 8/2007, 169/2007, 168/2007, 170/2007, 99/2008, 100/2008, 41/2009, 189/2010, 116/2016, 71/2018, 38/2022, and 91/2022.

⁷⁸ West, “Faroese self-government.”

⁷⁹ West, “The Faroese Sub-State.”

⁸⁰ West, “The Danish Realm in the Arctic.”

⁸¹ West, “The Faroese Sub-State.”

⁸² West, “Institutional Conditions and Faroese Governments.”

⁸³ Ackrén, “Greenlandic Paradiplomatic Relations.”

⁸⁴ West, “The Faroese sub-state”; Jákupsstovu & Justinussen, “Grænser for færøsk paradiplomati?”