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)
Party | Votes | Seats | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | % | ± | # | ± | ||
Labour Party (AP) | 27.4 | -3.4 | 49 | -6 | ||
Conservative Party (H) | 25.1 | -1.7 | 45 | -3 | ||
Progress Party (FRP) | 15.3 | -1.1 | 28 | -1 | ||
Centre Party (SP) | 10.3 | +4.8 | 18 | +8 | ||
Socialist Left Party (SV) | 6.0 | +1.9 | 11 | +4 | ||
Liberal Party (V) | 4.3 | -0.9 | 8 | -1 | ||
Christian Democratic Party (KRF) | 4.2 | -1.4 | 8 | -2 | ||
Green Party (MDG) | 3.2 | +0.4 | 1 | 0 | ||
Red Party (R) | 2.4 | +1.3 | 1 | +1 |