1814 – the year of revolution

During the course of 1814, Norway went from being the junior partner in an absolute Danish-Norwegian dual monarchy to a country with a large degree of autonomy in a union with Sweden. On 17^th May 1814, Norway adopted its very own Constitution. Inspired by the ideals of the Age of Enlightenment, this document was based on the principles of the separation of powers and sovereignty of the people. The most important documents this year were the Treaty of Kiel (signed on 14^th January) and the Constitution of 17^th May. The break with Denmark was also a product of the Napoleonic Wars, and the Convention of Moss of 14^th August laid the foundations for the negotiations which took place with Sweden during the autumn of 1814.

The revised Constitution of 4^th November 1814 adapted the 17^th May Constitution to the new union with Sweden. The document’s very first article was changed to: “The Kingdom of Norway is a free, independent, indivisible and inalienable Realm, united with Sweden under one King.”

The Storting elected Carl XIII of Sweden as King. The Constitution remained relatively unchanged, but in the years that followed, King Carl Johan exerted considerable pressure to amend it in favour of the monarchy. However, all such efforts were rejected by the Storting. The union with Sweden lasted until 1905.

1837 – the Local Government Acts

The historian Jens Arup Seip called the period in Norway from 1814 to 1884 a “state run by officials”^[1] as an illustration of how much power this social group had in Norway.

The “Farmers’ Storting”^[2] is a term used to describe the Storting of 1833, the first time the number of agrarian Members of Parliament (MPs) outnumbered government officials. On 14^th January 1837, the Local Government Acts were adopted. By making the democratic principles that were enshrined in the Constitution also applicable at local government level, these laws laid the groundwork for the growth of local government administration and local autonomy in Norway.

1871 – annual Stortings are introduced

For more than half a century after 1814, the Storting convened every third year only, and was not empowered to sit for more than three months. In 1869, the Storting dealt with a proposition which advocated annual Stortings, and from 1871 the Storting convened every year. This gave Parliament greater powers of control and influence over the Government. The introduction of annual sessions also paved the way for the veto conflict and parliamentarianism in the years that followed.

1884 – the breakthrough of parliamentarianism

Parliamentarianism is defined as being a system of government which makes the executive branch of the state (i.e. the Government) accountable to parliament (i.e. the Storting). If a majority in the Storting resolves that it no longer has confidence in the sitting Government, that Government will be obliged to step down.

One of the principles central to the Constitution of 1814 was the separation of powers. The struggle for power that developed between the King and the Storting in the 19th Century came to a head during what became known as the veto conflict.^[3] The basis of this conflict related to what extent government ministers should appear in parliament. Three times, the Storting passed a constitutional amendment which gave government ministers access to parliament. Each time, the King vetoed the resolution.

The matter was decided in 1884. The Storting, with the Liberal Party in the forefront, impeached the Government for refusing to implement a parliamentary resolution. The Selmer Government was dismissed from office. King Oscar II was forced to appoint Johan Sverdrup, the leader of the Liberal Party, as Prime Minister of a Government which had the support of the majority in the Storting.

For well over a century, parliamentarianism was practised and accepted as part of Norwegian common law. It was not until 2007 that the principle was formally written into the Norwegian Constitution.

The history of the political parties

In 1814, there were no political parties in Norway. This means, of course, that there is no mention of parties in the original Constitution. The backdrop for the founding of the first parties in Norway was the conflict with Sweden over the state of the union, and the struggle for political rights within larger parts of the population. A situation that spanned several decades, this struggle reached boiling point in 1884. The Liberal Party (“Venstre”) was formed as a coalition of farmers, teachers and liberal townspeople. They were united in their wish to extend the vote and their opposition to the union with Sweden. The Conservative Party (“Høyre”) was founded later the same year by conservative elements in society who were less favourable towards rapid social change. Three years later, in 1887, the Labour Party (“Arbeiderpartiet”) was founded. Since then, countless other parties have emerged, often as breakaway or protest movements against the established party system.

1905 – independence

The issue which brought the question of the union with Sweden to its eventual conclusion is known as “the consulate affair”. When King Oscar II refused to give his royal assent to the recently passed Consulate Act^[4], the Norwegian Government resigned, and Prime Minister Michelsen drew up the renowned 7^th June Declaration. This resolution stated that, since the King was unable to form a new Norwegian government, he had ceased to act as the Norwegian King. Consequently, the personal union with Sweden was dissolved. Swedish demands for a referendum resulted in an overwhelming majority in favour of this decision. On 26^th October 1905, Sweden recognized Norwegian independence, and shortly after, the Danish prince, Carl, was chosen as the new King of Norway. He took the name King Haakon VII.

The Storting and the vote

Universal suffrage for women and men is a key principle of any fully-fledged democracy. Even though the Norwegian Constitution of 1814 was radical for its time, it was drawn up under the assumption that the right to vote applied neither to women nor to all men. The expansion of the right to vote was a drawn-out matter. Universal suffrage for men was introduced in 1898 and for women in 1913. Arguably, it was not until 1919, when of the constitutional provision that deprived those on poor relief from being able to vote was repealed, that suffrage in Norway became genuinely universal.

[1] embetsmannsstaten
[2] bondestortinget
[3] vetostriden
[4] The Act legislated for Norway to establish its own consular offices abroad rather than to be reliant on the common consulates appointed by the Swedish Foreign Minister.