Europeans before Their Courts? Why so Few Nordics Mobilize the Law

Several American scholars like Daniel Kelemen and Rachel Cichowski have long argued that civil society actors would start mobilizing their interests and make increasing use of EU law litigation as the full constitutionalisation of the European Union became apparent. They have also argued that the ability of citizens to access a supranational court quickly would be seen by litigants themselves as a genuine democratization of the EU from below. But if this is true, why the great variance among member states when it comes to making use of the mechanism? Why have so few Nordic citizens who are often portrayed as vanguards when it comes to grassroot mobilization chosen to go to court? The paper uses quantitative as well as qualitative data and interviews to show how little resonance the theory has had in the Nordic Countries and uses Denmark as a specific case story. It also discusses the very limited role courts play in Nordic democracies.