Beyond neoliberal policy ideologies: tracing characteristics of social democratic ideologies in contemporary Danish education policy

Over the past decades, education policy research has constructed a dominant narrative of the proliferation of neoliberalism across much of the world. However, this narrative has often treated neoliberalism as a self-evident phenomenon, sometimes ambiguously defined and with limited critical reflection on its explanatory power. In this paper, we critically examine whether the neoliberalism narrative still holds by exploring the enduring influence of social democratic policy ideology in Danish education policy. Through an analysis of a recent reform package consisting of 12 policies across different levels of education, we identify four key characteristics that drive contemporary social democratic policy ideology in Denmark. While Danish education policy has incorporated elements often associated with neoliberal governance–such as New Public Management-inspired reforms–our findings suggest that social democratic policy ideology continues to shape current Danish education policy in significant ways. By highlighting the persistence of social democratic characteristics in these policies, we contribute to a broader discussion of whether neoliberalism remains the dominant driver of education policy or whether alternative ideological traditions challenge this narrative. In doing so, our findings invite further exploration of policy ideologies beyond the neoliberal paradigm across other Western education systems.