Norway flag Norway: Economic and Political Overview

The political framework of Norway

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders
King: Harald V (since 17 January 1991) - hereditary
Prime Minister: Jonas Gahr STORE (since 14 October 2021) – Labour Party
Next Election Dates
Parliamentary: 30 September 2025
Current Political Context
The Labour Party led by Jonas Gahr Støre managed to form a minority coalition government with the Centre Party following the 2021 parliamentary election. The third potential government partner – the Socialist Left Party – decided not to join the coalition over disagreements related to environmental policy (as oil and gas exploration should continue at both old and new oil fields); however, it supports Støre’s government on a case-by-case basis. Government stability is further guaranteed by the Norwegian constitution, which does not allow the dissolution of the parliament and early elections. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre shuffled his Cabinet in October 2023 after his centre-left party was defeated in local elections in September by the centre-right opposition party. Three ministers have exited the Cabinet, and two have been reassigned to new positions. The Cabinet has undergone an expansion, now comprising 20 members, with the addition of a new role dedicated to digitalization.
Although it is not part of the European Union, Norway decided to incorporate the sanctions against Russia into Norwegian law and also to increase its defence budget.
Main Political Parties
Coalition governments comprising several parties are typical in Norway. Currently, nine parties are represented in the parliament. The Labour Party and the Conservative Party are the most represented.

- Norwegian Labour Party (DNA): centre-left
- Conservative Party (Høyre): centre-right
- Centre Party (SP): centrist
- Progress Party (FrP): right-wing party
- Socialist Left Party (SV): left-wing
- Red Party (Rødt): left to far-left, Marxist
- Liberal Party (Venstre): centre-right, conservative-liberal
- Green Party: centre-left green political party
- Christian Democratic Party (KrF): centre.
Executive Power
The constitution grants executive powers to the King (the head of state), but these are exercised by the cabinet. The King serves a ceremonial role with some reserve powers. After elections, the majority leader is usually appointed Prime Minister (the head of the cabinet) by the monarch with the approval of the parliament.
Legislative Power
The Storting is the legislative body of Norway. The parliament is unicameral and consists of 169 representatives. Members are elected for four-year terms according to a system of proportional representation. The Storting cannot be dissolved before serving its full four-year term.
 

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

Definition:

The world rankings, published annually, measures violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position are assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire incorporating the main criteria (44 in total) to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. This questionnaire was sent to partner organisations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

World Rank:
1/180
 

Indicator of Political Freedom

Definition:

The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

Ranking:
Free
Political Freedom:
1/7

Political freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Freedom in the World Report, Freedom House

 

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Latest Update: March 2024