NORWAY’S POLITICAL SYSTEM: INSTITUTIONS AND KEY PLAYERS

The real embodiment of the political system of Norway is its political system, the entire historical experience of the country, is inextricably linked with the peculiarities of the national psychology, the national mentality of the people.

Norway is a country with a high political culture based on the principles of freedom, order and democracy. It is this political culture that is of decisive importance for the formation of a favorable social environment conducive to the most complete, unrestricted development of the human personality.

According to Art. 1 of the Constitution, the Norwegian Kingdom is a free, independent, indivisible and inalienable state. His form of government is a limited and hereditary monarchy. Norway has a constitution of 1814 with numerous subsequent amendments and additions. King of Norway (January 17, 1991) - Harald V. The King communicates between the three branches of government [3, с. 427].

Officially, the king makes all political appointments, is present at all ceremonies and conducts (together with the Crown Prince) formal weekly meetings of the State Council (government). The king is vested with certain powers in relation to parliament: he opens parliamentary sessions, speaking at the first meeting with a throne speech, has the right to convene emergency sessions. On the advice of the government, the King appoints and dismisses senior officials, he has the right of pardon. He solves foreign policy issues: he concludes and terminates treaties with foreign states, accepts diplomatic representatives, has the right to start a war to defend the country and make peace. The king is the supreme commander of land and sea forces [1, с. 10].

Executive power is vested in the prime minister, acting on behalf of the king. The Cabinet of Ministers consists of the Prime Minister and 16 ministers heading the relevant departments. Since October 2005, the leader of the Norwegian Workers' Party, Jens Stoltenberg, has occupied the post of the Prime Minister of Norway. The government is collectively responsible for its policies, although every minister has the right to publicly disagree on a particular issue. Cabinet members are approved by the majority party or the coalition in parliament - the Storting (the legislative branch). They may participate in parliamentary debates, but they do not have the right to vote. Posts of civil servants are provided after passing competitive examinations.

The seat of the Storting is the capital of Norway - Oslo. The number of deputies elected to the Norwegian parliament is 169, 150 of whom are elected by party lists from the provinces (county), and the remaining 19 receive so-called leveling mandates. Governance in the county (provinces) is carried out by the appointed by the king fulkesman (governor), with him there is a fulkesting (regional council), consisting of the chairmen of the councils of rural and urban communes.

Each commune has an elected local government body - a meeting of representatives. Formally, the Storting consists of 2 chambers - odelsting and lagting. However, in 2007 it was decided that after the next elections, in 2009, the Storting would become unicameral. The Storting is headed by the Storting President. Currently (since 2009) it is the representative of the Workers' Party Dag Terje Andersen. In addition to him, the presidency of the parliament includes the vice-president of the Storting, the president and vice-president of the odelsting, the president and the vice-president of the lasting. Places on the presidium are distributed proportionally, according to the parties represented in the Storting. Deputies in the plenary hall are sitting not in a factional, but in groups from provinces. Formal bills (as opposed to resolutions) should be discussed and put to the vote by both chambers separately, but in case of disagreement in opinion, a 2/3 majority vote must be collected at a joint meeting of chambers to pass the bill. However, the majority of cases are decided at meetings of the commissions, the composition of which is appointed depending on the representation of the parties. Lagting sessions are also held in conjunction with the Supreme Court to discuss impeachment proceedings against any government official at the Odelsting. Minor complaints to the government are considered by the special representative of the Storting, the ombudsman. The adoption of constitutional amendments requires the approval of a 2/3 majority vote in two consecutive meetings of the Storting.

The main tasks of the Storting are:

1. issuance of laws

2. adoption of the budget

3. control over the work of the government

169 deputies of the Storting currently belong to 7 party factions. Each faction has its own chairman, official representative and board. Members of factional boards are automatically also members of parliamentary commissions on foreign affairs and on constitutional law [4, с. 63]

There are 13 commissions in the Storting. Each member of parliament participates in the work of a commission. Both parties and provinces of the country are proportionally represented in the commissions. According to the legislation, each commission must include at least one lagting deputy. The commission includes from 11 to 20 deputies, after its creation, members elect a chairman, official representative and secretary. The meetings of the commissions are open. Commissions also have the right to invite to their meetings representatives of the government, any organizations and individuals, if this is required for better coverage of the issue under consideration.

Local government of Norway is divided into 19 regions (provinces), the city of Oslo is equated to one of them. These areas are divided into urban and rural districts (communes). Each of them has a council, whose members are elected for a term of four years. Over district councils is the regional council, which is elected by direct vote. Local governments have large funds, with the right of independent taxation. These funds are directed to education, health and social welfare, as well as infrastructure development [3, с. 68].

Parties are key institutions in Norway’s political systems. In Norway, there is a multi-party system with numerous political parties, but bipolar systems are distinguished by some political scientists. For several decades, starting with the elections of 1933 and up to the elections of 2001, the Norwegian Workers' Party sustained more than 40% of the seats in parliament. Since the 2000s, the domination of the Workers' Party has begun to decline. To win elections, parties have to form coalition governments [5, с. 194].

At the moment there is a bipolar party-political system in the country. At one extreme are the social reformist Norwegian Workers Party (RPP — since 1887) (Det Norske Arbeiderparti, a member of the Socialist International) and leftist socialists (the Socialist People’s Party — Sosialistiske Folkeparti, founded in 1961); on the other - all center-right bourgeois parties: Hoire (Nouge - from 1885) - conservatives, the first political party of the country - Venstre (Venstre - from 1884) - liberals, clerical Christian-People's Party (HNP - Kristelig Folkeparti, founded in 1933) and the Party Center (Senterpartiet, until 1959 was called the Peasant Party, from May to the end of 1959 - the Norwegian Democratic Party, founded in 1920).

With such a balance of forces, the populist Progress Party has a significant influence, with which both left and right parties refuse to cooperate. In fact, a corporate decision-making system has been established and functions, and the role of the coordinator in this structure (the state - trade unions - entrepreneurs) was assumed by representatives of the authorities who conduct the course of “social partnership”: concluding collective agreements on wages and other working conditions, settling labor conflicts [1, с. 11].

Thus, the mentality of the people, their political culture can have a huge impact not only on the organization of the political system of society, but also on all spheres of public life. Norway is a country with a high political culture based on the principles of freedom, order and democracy. It is this political culture that is of decisive importance for the formation of a favorable social environment conducive to the most complete, unrestricted development of the human personality.

References:

1. Грёндал, Кирсти Колле. Прошлое и настоящее норвежского парламента /Кирсти Колле Грёндал // Международная жизнь. – 1997. – №5. – С. 11 – 17.
2. Зосимова М. П. Причины и условия стабильности политического режима на примере демократического режима в Норвегии [Текст] / М. П. Зосимова // Молодой ученый. — 2015. — №2. — С. 426–428.
3. Исаев М. А. Основные формы конституционного контроля в странах Скандинавии // Государство и право. 2003. № 12. С. 76–85.
4. Hoist J. Norsk Sikkerhetspolitikk i Strategisk Perspektiv, Vol.11. Oslo, 1967. - P. 65–67
5. Regions and Development: Politics, Security and Development./ Ed. Sh. Page. London: Frank Cass Publishers, 2000. – 280 p.