Norway: Strong yet Marginalised Parties

Abstract

This chapter turns to Norway which, like Iceland, remains outside the EU. On two occasions, in the early 1970s and the mid-1990s, the country’s government felt confident that Norwegian membership of the Union had been arranged, only to see its plans dashed by the electorate in consultative referendums. Thereafter Norway assumed the status of a semi-member state, accepting many of the constraints of membership, while — crucially for our project — lacking the political representation in EU decision-making that member states enjoy. How have the Norwegian political parties adapted to this limbo? How well does delegation and accountability in the intra-party channel work under these circumstances?