© Blackwell Publishing Ltd. ,  Garsington Road, Oxford OX DQ , UK and  Main Street, Malden, MA , USA S P & A  0144–5596 V. 38, No. 2, A 2004, . 156–169 Blackwell Publishing Ltd Oxford, UK SPOL Social Policy & Administration – © Blackwell Publishing Ltd.  April      Original Articles Denmark: Universal or Not So Universal Welfare State Bent Greve Abstract This article questions whether or not Denmark is still a universal welfare state. It does so by first offering a comparative-based analysis of the Nordic countries on central welfare state parameters. Second, the article utilizes a case-based analysis in respect of three core areas of the Danish welfare state— pensions, unemployment and early retirement benefit—to assess the distinctiveness of the Danish model. The article concludes that, notwithstanding the Danish model is more mixed today than it used to be, it continues to be distinct in areas such as equality, full employment, a high level of spending on social security and an active labour market policy. Keywords Nordic welfare states; Universalism; Equality; Pensions; Unemployment and early retirement benefits Introduction The literature on welfare states in a comparative perspective has, since Esping-Andersen’s path-breaking work (Esping-Andersen ), always placed the Nordic countries in a specific regime, the distinctive element being their universalistic approach based upon citizenship. Yet differences between the Nordic countries have sometimes implied there could be variations within the Nordic group: for example, a West versus East Nordic model (Ringen ). Many variations and typologies have been constructed—so many that this activity has been labelled a welfare modelling business (Abrahamsson ). It is also true that just making typologies does not inform us much about contents, structure, systems or development. As Baldwin () has already alleged: “typologizing is the lowest form of intellectual endeavour”. Neverthe- less, as a reference and framework for analysis, such modelling can be useful. The Nordic welfare states with their “principles of universalism and de-commodification of social rights” (Esping-Andersen ) have since been analysed and compared in numerous articles and books. 1 Question marks Address for correspondence: Professor Bent Greve, Department of Social Sciences, Roskilde Univer- sity, Denmark. Email: bgr@ruc.dk