Liberalism in Norway
Encyclopedia
This article gives an overview of liberalism in Norway
. It is limited to liberal
parties
with substantial support, mainly proved by having been represented in the Norwegian Parliament, Stortinget.
(literally Left, internationally named "The Liberal Party of Norway") was the first organised political force in Norway, and was for long times the dominant political party (from the 1880s to the 1920s). Since the Second World War, it has been one of the minor parties. Today, Venstre is a centrist liberal party. Venstre is also one of the founding members of the Liberal International
. Competing liberal parties have been in existence from time to time, but today only Venstre is represented in Parliament. Most other self-awovedly liberal parties and groupings muster only negligble electoral support.
FrP ( internationally named "The progress party of Norway")
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. It is limited to liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
parties
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
with substantial support, mainly proved by having been represented in the Norwegian Parliament, Stortinget.
Background
VenstreVenstre (Norway)
The Liberal Party is a centrist liberal political party in Norway. The party is the oldest in the country, and has enacted reforms such as parliamentarism, freedom of religion, universal suffrage and free education. Since 2010, the leader of the party is Trine Skei Grande...
(literally Left, internationally named "The Liberal Party of Norway") was the first organised political force in Norway, and was for long times the dominant political party (from the 1880s to the 1920s). Since the Second World War, it has been one of the minor parties. Today, Venstre is a centrist liberal party. Venstre is also one of the founding members of the Liberal International
Liberal International
Liberal International is a political international federation for liberal parties. Its headquarters is located at 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HD within the National Liberal Club. It was founded in Oxford in 1947, and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties and for the...
. Competing liberal parties have been in existence from time to time, but today only Venstre is represented in Parliament. Most other self-awovedly liberal parties and groupings muster only negligble electoral support.
FrP ( internationally named "The progress party of Norway")
History
- 1884: The liberal and radical groups in Stortinget (up until that time collectively referred to as "venstre", without capitalisation) organised a political party, Venstre. Venstre deposes the incumbent conservative government in an impeachmentImpeachmentImpeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....
trial in the same year, and the leader of Venstre, Johan SverdrupJohan SverdrupJohan Sverdrup was a Norwegian politician from the Liberal Party. He was the first Prime Minister of Norway after the introduction of parliamentarism. Sverdrup was Prime Minister from 1884 to 1889.- Early years :...
, becomes the first Prime Minister of NorwayPrime Minister of NorwayThe Prime Minister of Norway is the political leader of Norway and the Head of His Majesty's Government. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Stortinget , to their political party, and ultimately the...
taken from the ranks of Stortinget.
- 1888: A group of ChristianChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
conservatives leaves Venstre to form Moderate Venstre (The Moderate Left). The party is later reunited with Venstre, but the present-day Christian People's PartyChristian People's PartyChristian People's Party is a name or former name of several European and Latin American Christian Democratic parties including:* the Christian People's Party * the Christian Democratic Party * Christian People's Party...
also claims Moderate Venstre as its forerunner.
- 1903: The right wing of Venstre leaves the party and forms Frisinnede Venstre (The Liberal Left).
- 1911: A radical faction leaves Venstre to form Arbeiderdemokraterne (Labour Democrats). This party is later renamed Radikale Folkeparti (Radical People's Party).
- 1936: Radikale Folkeparti is reabsorbed into Venstre. Frisinnede Venstre is merged with the main conservative party, Høyre (literally Right)
- 1972: Venstre is split over the issue of Norway's accession to the European Economic CommunityEuropean Economic CommunityThe European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...
. The Pro-EEC faction forms Nye Venstre (New Left), later renamed Det Liberale Folkeparti (Liberal People's PartyLiberal People's Party (Norway)The Liberal People's Party was a political party in Norway, established because of a split in the Liberal Party over the issue of Norway's accession to the European Economic Community in 1972...
).
- 1988: Venstre and Det Liberale Folkeparti are reunited.
- 1994: A libertarian wing of the populist Progress PartyProgress Party (Norway)The Progress Party is a political party in Norway which identifies as conservative liberal and libertarian. The media has described it as conservative and right-wing populist...
, counting among them four members of Stortinget, forms its own party, Fridemokratene (Free Democrats). The party is reduced to insignificance after the general elections of 1997.
- 2005: Venstre gains ten seats in Parliament at the general elections, forming the largest Liberal group in Stortinget since 1972.
Liberal leaders
- Johan SverdrupJohan SverdrupJohan Sverdrup was a Norwegian politician from the Liberal Party. He was the first Prime Minister of Norway after the introduction of parliamentarism. Sverdrup was Prime Minister from 1884 to 1889.- Early years :...
- Johannes SteenJohannes SteenJohannes Wilhelm Christian Steen was a Norwegian politician, Prime Minister of Norway from 1891 to 1893 and from 1898 to 1902....
- Gunnar KnudsenGunnar KnudsenGunnar Knudsen , born Aanon Gunerius Knudsen, was a Norwegian politician from the Liberal Party who had two spells as Prime Minister of Norway from 1908 to 1910 and from 1913 to 1920...
- Lars SponheimLars SponheimLars Sponheim is a Norwegian politician. He was leader of the Liberal Party from 1996 to 2010. He was a member of the Storting from 1993 to 2009, and a government minister from 1997 to 2000 and from 2001 to 2005. He is the current County Governor of Hordaland, serving since March 2010.Sponheim was...
See also
- History of NorwayHistory of NorwayThe history of human settlement in what is present day Norway goes back at least 11,000 years, to the late Paleolithic. Archaeological finds in the county of Møre og Romsdal have been dated to 9,200 BC and are probably the remains of settlers from Doggerland, an area now submerged in the North Sea,...
- Politics of NorwayPolitics of NorwayPolitics in Norway take place in the framework of a parliamentary representative democratic constitutional monarchy. Executive power is exercised by the King's council, the cabinet, led by the Prime Minister of Norway. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Storting, elected...
- List of political parties in Norway