Government and society

Constitutional framework

Norway is a constitutional hereditary monarchy. The government, comprising the prime minister and the Statsråd (Council of State), is nominally chosen by the monarch with the approval of the Storting (Stortinget), the country’s legislature. Until 2009 the Storting operated as a bicameral body, though most matters were addressed in unicameral plenary sessions. Only when voting on laws was the Storting divided into two houses. One-fourth of the members were chosen to constitute the Lagting, or upper house, while the remaining members constituted the Odelsting, or lower house. Bills had to be passed by both houses in succession. In 2009 the Lagting was dissolved, and the Storting became permanently unicameral.

The constitution of Norway, drafted in 1814 when Norway left the 434-year union with Denmark, was influenced by British political traditions, the Constitution of the United States, and French Revolutionary ideas. Amendments can be made by a two-thirds majority in the Storting. Unlike many parliamentary forms of legislature, the Storting cannot be dissolved during its four-year term of office (amendments to overturn this restriction have been defeated frequently since 1990). If a majority of the Storting votes against an action advocated by the Statsråd, the minister responsible or the whole Statsråd resigns. In legislative matters the monarch has a suspending right of veto, but, since the 91-year union with Sweden was dissolved in 1905, this veto has never been exercised.

The Sami Act of 1987 sought to enable the Sami people “to safeguard and develop their language, culture, and way of life” and created the Sameting, the Sami Parliament, the business of which, according to the constitution, is “any matter that in the view of the parliament particularly affects the Sami people.”

The Finnmark Act, adopted by the Storting in 2005, transferred some 95 percent of the fylke (county) of Finnmark from state ownership to its residents through the establishment of the Finnmark Estate. The act recognized in particular that the Sami people, through protracted traditional use of the area, had acquired individual and collective ownership of the area and the right to use its land and water.

Local government

The city of Oslo constitutes one of the country’s 19 fylker (counties). The other counties are divided into rural and urban municipalities, with councils elected every fourth year (two years after the Storting elections). For the country as a whole, the municipal elections tend to mirror the party division of the Storting. The municipal councils elect a board of aldermen and a mayor. Many municipalities also employ councillors for such governmental affairs as finance, schools, social affairs, and housing. Norwegians pay direct taxes to both federal and municipal governments.

The counties can levy taxes on the municipalities for purposes such as roads, secondary schools, and other joint projects. The county councils comprise delegates from the municipalities, while the county governors are appointed by the Statsråd.

Political process

Elections to the 169-member Storting are held every four years. All citizens at least 18 years of age are eligible to participate, and seats are filled by proportional representation. Norway’s political life functions through a multiparty system. Before national elections, political parties nominate their candidates at membership meetings in each of Norway’s fylker. Each fylke elects a number of representatives (the number determined by the area of the fylke and the size of its population relative to that of the country as a whole) to the Storting, with party representation allotted on the basis of the percentage of the vote received.

The Norwegian Labour Party (Det Norske Arbeiderparti; DNA), the ruling party from before World War II until the mid-1960s, advocates a moderate form of socialism. In its many years of governing Norway, however, it nationalized only a few large industrial companies. The Conservative Party (Høyre), which traditionally has been the major alternative to the DNA, accepts the welfare state and approves of the extensive transfers of income and of government control of the economy. Between 1945 and 1961 the government was formed by the DNA, which won clear majorities in the Storting. After 1961, however, no single party was able to obtain a majority in the legislature, and Norway was governed by a succession of coalitions and minority governments. Since the late 1980s the Progress Party (Fremskrittspartiet), which advocates limiting both immigration and the welfare state, has been a major force in Norwegian politics. Other political parties that played important roles during that period include the Christian People’s (Democratic) Party, the Centre Party (called the Agrarian Party until 1958), the Socialist Left Party, and the Liberal (Venstre) Party.

In the early 21st century between one-third and two-fifths of the representatives to the Storting were women; that proportion of women in a national legislature was among the highest in the world. Gro Harlem Brundtland became Norway’s first woman prime minister in 1981 and served three terms.

Justice

Before civil cases ordinarily can be taken to court, they first must be submitted to the local conciliation boards (forliksråd), which settle many issues without recourse to more formal legal action. Decisions of the conciliation boards can be appealed to the courts, and Norway also has a formal system of courts of appeal. The Supreme Court is the final arbiter of legal decisions. The rights of the citizens also are guarded by ombudsmen, who act on their behalf as an intermediary in matters with public administrators.

Security

Military service of 6 to 12 months for the army and navy and 12 months for the air force, plus refresher training, is compulsory for all fit Norwegian men and women between 19 and 44 years of age. Nonetheless, Norway’s defense force is far too small to protect all of its territory against a major aggressor. Its strategy was designed to defend key areas, especially in the north, until forces from other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) could arrive. The Norwegian units have great mobility, and, because of Norway’s important strategic location as NATO’s northern flank with a myriad of fjords to serve as naval bases for fleets in the North Atlantic, Norway has sophisticated early-warning systems.

The NATO headquarters for northern Europe was located at Kolsås, near Oslo, until the alliance command structure was reorganized in 1994. A subcommand, the Joint Warfare Center, was then established in Stavanger as a partial replacement. The stationing of foreign troops and the deployment of nuclear weapons are prohibited by Norwegian law except in cases of war or the immediate threat of war. In 1995 Norway lifted restrictions that had prevented NATO forces from participating in training exercises in and off Finnmark.

The Norwegian air force includes fighter planes and antiaircraft rocket systems, and the Norwegian navy comprises heavy coastal artillery and light vessels such as gunboats, torpedo boats, submarines, and corvettes. In peacetime the total active military personnel number about 35,000, of which about two-thirds are conscripts. Some 200,000 additional first-line reserves can be quickly mobilized in emergencies. After the Soviet threat faded away in the 1990s, Norway’s military and defense spending was reduced substantially. Now the Norwegian military stresses specialized units suited for UN and NATO assignments.