Political scientist Ove Kaj Pedersen has published the first volume of “Staten”, a two-volume work arguing that the Danish state began with a violent coup in 1536.
The book was presented in an interview published on September 16, 2026, by Dagbladet Information. Pedersen calls the work the foundation of all his earlier books and research. He has worked on it since the 1960s, when he studied in Paris.
The first volume traces how the king used ordinances, decrees and legal texts over roughly 350 years to create Denmark. Per Information, the Rigsdag also has a role in the account. A second volume is planned.
1536 as a starting point
Pedersen told Information that Danes tend to see the state as growing calmly out of Danske Lov and the constitution. He points instead to 1536 and the end of the civil war known as Grevens Fejde. Christian III became king, carried out the Reformation and took the Catholic church’s money, land and power.
Power was taken by violence, Pedersen says about that year. He does not think the date should be marked with celebrations. He says he prefers a state that understands itself through applicable law rather than through violence.
The account gives the Danish monarchy a central place. According to Information, Pedersen describes how the king first divided Danes into fixed categories, then dissolved those differences one by one. He calls that later process the great progressive project.
In 1972 Pedersen was a member of Venstresocialisterne and voted no to Danish membership of the EF. He says he still cannot fully explain his own reasoning. His argument at the time was that Denmark should not give up sovereignty.
In the interview he says the opposite is true. Denmark’s sovereignty rests on recognition by other countries, formalized through international cooperation and agreements, he says. As stated by Pedersen, Denmark was granted sovereignty only with the UN, NATO, the EF and international conventions.
He says it is therefore strange to hear the political right argue against such conventions today. Information notes that Venstre, De Konservative and Liberal Alliance want to leave the convention on citizenship. Dansk Folkeparti is prepared to leave the European Convention on Human Rights and other agreements if they cannot be changed. Asked about Denmark’s EU opt-outs, Pedersen says they are a loss of sovereignty.
Another thread in the book is what Pedersen calls almindeliggørelse, the removal of legal differences between groups. He points to the September Compromise of 1899, which he says allowed women to sell their labor on equal terms with men. He calls the project an endless one.
Pedersen is best known for “Konkurrencestaten”, which was embraced by then finance minister Bjarne Corydon. As reported by Information, the head of the teachers’ union largely blamed the book for the 2014 folkeskole reform.
