Norway Unitary state

History and trends

Norway is a constitutional parliamentary Monarchy. Its Constitution entered into force on 17 May 1814.

Norway entered into a union with Denmark and Sweden in 1468. The union collapsed when Sweden declared independence in 1523. As a result, Norway was no longer a “dependency of the Kingdom of Denmark”, under which it was required to follow Lutheranism (1537) and use its language.

However the subsequent Swedish invasion forced Norway into union with Sweden (6 August 1815). The union was limited in scope, however – both kingdoms had a separate monarch and minister of foreign affairs.

In 1905, Norway severed its ties with Sweden and became a separate state. On the international stage, Norway was first neutral then actively aligned with the West from the outset of the Cold War.

Norway joined the United Nations in 1945, and became a member of NATO in 1949 following the 1948 Czechoslovak coup d’état. Norwegian voters implicitly approved the country’s rejection of neutrality at the ballot box in 1949. Norway was one of the founding members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), created in 1960. While the Scandinavian countries fell short of ratifying the Nordek (Nordic economic community) proposal, they have continued to forge closer cooperation ties. Norway is an active member of the United Nations and is actively involved in development assistance work.

The proposal to join the Common Market (EEC) was floated in 1970, causing public outcry and sparking political crises that caused several government reshuffles. A national advisory referendum was held in September 1972, when the Norwegian electorate voted against joining the EEC. The government subsequently held a series of referendums on European Union membership, but voters rejected the idea each time.

As a member of the European Economic Area (EEA), Norway enjoys access to the EU internal market and has adopted many aspects of EU law (on the environment, employment, etc.). After being an observer since 1996, Norway joined the Schengen Area in March 2001 along with the other four Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Switzerland and (non-EU member) Iceland.

Norway is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Local level :

At the local level, Norway is divided into 428 municipalities (kommuner) (2008). There are plans to continue merging municipalities. Oslo is both a municipality and a county.

As Norway’s local government units, the municipalities have responsibility across a range of areas: primary education, outpatient care, elderly care, unemployment and other social services, local planning, economic development and municipal roads.

Regional level :

Norway is traditionally divided into five super regions (Landsdeler), divided along geographical and language lines: Sørlandet, Østlandet, Vestlandet, Midt-Norge, and Nord-Norge.

The most important subdivisions, however, are the 19 counties (fylkeskommune), which play a vital administrative role. Counties are the intermediate level of local government between the state and the municipalities. The monarch is represented by a county governor (Fylkesmannen) in each county.