Less than two years from now, we will have local and regional elections in Denmark. We often write in this newsletter about different political parties and their actions on the national stage, and probably that has influenced in one way or another your opinion about them. Could you perceive a political party in your municipality through the national politics lens? Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. While national politics is heavily about policies, local politics is about people.
Therefore, it’s very possible that on the national level you like a political party because of their policies towards internationals, while on the local level you like another party because you personally know one of their politicians, or because they fixed the light on your street. Motivations can be very different. In the end, you can vote for the person, and not necessarily the party that you want to represent your interests in the local council.
Is your bus late in the morning? Does the street that leads to your house have potholes in it? Do they forget to pick up the trash every now and then? Has your neighbor sold their property to a big developer who is building a very tall building next to yours, basically robbing you of the view? Is it too cold in the classrooms? Do you feel like there’s not enough support for international entrepreneurs? These are just some examples of situations when you would like to reach out to a city council member (who you voted for) to do something about it. Would the political color matter? Her or his influence in the council will likely matter more. Local is more about day-to-day life and less about ideology (with exceptions, of course).
That’s why you can have local politicians who openly criticize national politicians from the same political party. The concept of autonomy, which is widespread in many areas of life in Denmark, is also present in politics. Unfortunately, the same political party can often be wildly different depending on the municipality or region of Denmark. Please consider that before you paint everyone from the same party with the same brush.
