Norwegian Parliament: functions, structure and features

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

Norway is one of the most developed European countries. It is located on the Scandinavian Peninsula and borders three countries. So, its neighbors are Russia and Finland. The official name is the Kingdom of Norway.

Norwegian government

Norway in its state structure is a constitutional monarchy, headed by the king. He performs representative functions. Officially, the King of Norway heads the executive branch, but in reality many of his powers are limited by the country's legislature. He also has some competences in relation to the parliament: he opens sessions, speaks at meetings, etc. Currently, the King of Norway is Harald V.

The Kingdom of Norway in its territorial structure is a unitary state. It consists of 19 regions, or the so-called county. These are in turn divided into municipalities, the average population of which is generally less than 5,000 people.

Norwegian legislature

Legislative power in the Kingdom of Norway is exercised by the peoplethrough the Norwegian parliament, which is called the Storting. It is unicameral, but its members are divided into Lagting (upper house) and Odelsting (lower house) to pass laws.

In its current form, the country's legislative body has existed since the beginning of the 19th century, but its roots go far back in history - back to the ninth century. Even then, on the territory of modern Norway, there were local institutions that united into a single inter-regional assembly. This body had the same name as the modern upper house of the Norwegian Parliament.

Parliamentary elections

The Legislative Institute of the country consists of 169 members (until 2005 it consisted of 165). In order to qualify for a seat, a candidate must be eligible to vote and have lived in Norway for at least ten years. Parliamentary elections are held once every four years. At the same time, their end should fall on September.

The composition of Parliament is determined by the proportional electoral system, in which seats are distributed according to the received votes. Such a system has been operating in Norway since the First World War. One hundred and fifty deputies are appointed on the basis of electoral lists, while the remaining nineteen receive equalizing mandates. These seats are awarded to parties that receive fewer seats than the percentage of votes received.

All citizens of the country who are 18 years old have the right to vote. For voting, Norway is divided into19 districts (coincide with the boundaries of the regions). Each of which, in turn, is divided into polling stations (they are communes). Depending on the size of the population and area of the territory, the districts are given a different number of seats in the Storting.

Functions performed by the Storting

The main function of the Norwegian Parliament is the adoption and repeal of the laws of the country, as well as the establishment of the state budget. In addition, he is also empowered to set taxes, customs duties, etc. He can grant government loans, allocate funds to eliminate the debts of the country, and also determine the amount of expenses for the maintenance of the king and his family.

The Norwegian Parliament also has the right to demand information about alliances and agreements concluded by the head of the country with foreign states, the provision of all official documents of the State Council (the country's highest executive body), and also to appoint a number of officials (an auditor to review the government report and a special person to monitor the entire apparatus of officials). Another important function of the Storting is the granting of citizenship.

Procedure for passing laws

At the first regular session after the parliamentary elections, the Storting chooses among its members those who will join the Lagting. The upper house is one-fourth of all deputies, and the Odelsting forms the remaining three-quarters.

The first step inpassing laws is the introduction of a bill in the lower house of parliament, which can be done by both its members and officials of the government of Norway. After the adoption of the bill by the Odelsting, it is submitted for consideration to the Lagting, which can either approve the submitted document or attach comments to it and return it back. In this case, the deputies of the lower house again consider the bill, and after that, either a refusal to further work on its adoption may occur, or it may be sent for reconsideration to the Lagting. At the same time, Odelsting may make changes to the document, or may leave it unchanged.

After the bill receives the approval of the entire Storting (parliament), it is sent for signature to the king. The latter has the right to either approve the proposed document or send it back to the lower house. In this case, the bill cannot be resubmitted to the head of state for signature during the same parliamentary session.

2017 elections

In September, regular parliamentary elections were held in the Kingdom of Norway. More than 20 political parties represented by 4437 candidates took part in them.

The elections were won by the Norwegian Workers (CHP) (27.4% of the vote), but together with their partners, the CHP received 9 seats less than the union led by the conservative Høire (25.1%). As a result, the right got 89 seats, the left - 80. The attendance of the elections was more than 75%.