The Joy of Politics

Norwegians voted this past week to return the governing center-right party to power.

Norway is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Below is an abridged excerpt from the text of the interactive entry on the government of Norway in the CIA Factbook, a great resource to consult online to test your understanding of the design components in a given state.

Government type

parliamentary constitutional monarchy

Executive branch:

chief of state: King

head of government: Prime Minister

cabinet: State Council appointed by the monarch, approved by Parliament

elections/appointments: the monarchy is hereditary; following parliamentary elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the monarch with the approval of the parliament

Legislative branch:

legislature: unicameral Parliament or Storting (169 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms)

elections: last held on 9 September 2013 (next to be held in September 2017)

election results: percent of vote by party – Center-Right Coalition 54.0% (H 26.3%, FrP 16.3%, KrF 5.6%, V 5.2%), Red-Green Coalition 40.6% (Ap 30.8%, SP 5.5%, SV 4.1%), MDG 2.8, other 2.7%; seats by party – Center-Right Coalition 96 (H 48, FrP 29, KrF 10, V 9), Red-Green Coalition 72 (Ap 55, Sp 10, SV 7), MDG 1

Judicial branch:

highest court(s): Supreme Court or Hoyesterett (consists of the chief justice and 18 associate justices)

judge selection and term of office: justices appointed by the monarch (King in Council) upon the recommendation of the Judicial Appointments Board; justice retirement mandatory at age 70

subordinate courts: Courts of Appeal or Lagmensrett; regional and district courts; Conciliation Boards; ordinary and special courts

Political parties and leaders: (source)