Norway: Center And Periphery

by Heidar,Knut

• ISBN13: 9780813332000
• ISBN10: 0813332001
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2000-12-29
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Norway is by history and culture very much a Scandinavian nation with its own unique profile. This book analyzes the factors that have shaped the sociocultural fabric of Norwegian politics. One of the most important themes Heidar analyzes is the power of the periphery, both in social as well as geographic terms. In the geographic sense, Norway is a small nation, and although it has been able to remain economically and politically stable, it is situated on the European flank. It is therefore dependent upon and vulnerable to external economic and political developments. In critical periods of its history, Norway's size has made it an object rather than an initiator of change. In the social sense, Norway has existed as a "periphery nation". It is this multi-dimensional center-periphery situation that has been crucial in shaping institutional structures and practices. Another theme that Heidar explores is Norway's enduring egalitarian culture. This book focuses on the primacy of politics in Norway and the role played by the nineteenth-century peasant movement and the twentieth-century labor movement in shaping modern Norway. Today, political and cultural traditions are challenged by the force of globalization. Norway is defined as a stable, parliamentary, multiparty system with a social democratic tradition. It was named a Choice Outstanding Academic Book of 2001.

Author Biography

Knut Heidar is professor of political science at the University of Oslo. He has the author of several books on Norwegian political parties and West European Politics. He is the coeditor of Parliamentary Party Groups in European Democracies, 2000, and Beyond Westminster and Congress: The Nordic Experience, 2000.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
List of Abbreviations	xi
Small-Scaled, Egalitarian, and Territorially Based	1	(10)
A Small Country	2	(3)
Three Themes and One Proposition	5	(2)
Approach	7	(1)
Structure of the Book	8	(1)
Notes	9	(2)
People, Society, and History	11	(22)
Social Change, Civil Life, and Cultural Background	12	(4)
Political History and the Struggle for National Independence	16	(4)
Industrialization and Economic Development	20	(4)
Parties and Cleavages	24	(4)
Four Thresholds for Democracy	28	(1)
Conclusion	29	(1)
Notes	30	(3)
Political Institutions	33	(28)
The Role of the Constitution	34	(1)
The Storting	35	(5)
The Government	40	(4)
The Top Civil Service: Politics and Administration	44	(3)
Regional and Local Government	47	(4)
The Sami Assembly	51	(1)
International Cooperation	52	(4)
Conclusion	56	(1)
Notes	57	(4)
Political Forces and Political Participation	61	(34)
The Political Parties	62	(8)
Candidate Selection and Party Change	70	(1)
Decline of Parties?	71	(1)
The Party System and the Government Alternatives	72	(2)
Channels of Influence and the Media Arena	74	(6)
The Norwegian Voter	80	(5)
Women in Politics	85	(3)
Referenda Politics	88	(3)
Conclusion	91	(1)
Notes	91	(4)
Political Economy	95	(22)
A Small and Open Economy	96	(2)
A Strong State to Be ``Rolled Back,''	98	(3)
Traditional Industries and the New Petro-Politics	101	(3)
Regional and ``District'' Politics	104	(3)
Unemployment	107	(1)
The Corporate Sector and Wage Negotiations	108	(4)
The European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement	112	(1)
Conclusion	113	(1)
Notes	114	(3)
Public Policies	117	(20)
The Welfare State	118	(5)
Green Policies	123	(5)
Gender Equality	128	(4)
Conclusion	132	(1)
Notes	133	(4)
Foreign Relations	137	(26)
The Geopolitics of Security	138	(5)
International Regimes: Trade and Rights to the Seabed	143	(5)
Globalization: Interests and Ideals	148	(5)
Decisionmaking	153	(4)
Conclusion	157	(1)
Notes	158	(5)
Conclusion	163	(14)
Comparative Perspectives	163	(2)
Small, Egalitarian, and a Strong Periphery	165	(3)
Continuity and Change During the 1990s	168	(4)
The National Question	172	(1)
Elites on Trial	173	(2)
Notes	175	(2)
Bibliography	177	(8)
Index	185