How Nordic is the Nordic model?

The Nordic countries are often perceived as representing a special type of welfare state. In this article we focus on arrangements directed towards poor and marginalized people, which in most countries are social assistance schemes. By comparing four dimensions of these arrangements in 24 countries, the salience, the level of benefit, institutional design and poverty alleviation, this article concludes that that it is difficult to distinguish a particular Nordic approach for two reasons. First, there is substantial variation within the Nordic countries; second, the Nordic countries display similarities with some countries outside Scandinavia. Therefore, the article concludes by identifying an approach towards poor and marginalized people that is common in small, communitarian, affluent and homogeneous countries.