The recent issues surrounding the royal family in Norway has led many to ask whether the monarchy has outlived its role.
- Given the way we have set up Norwegian democracy in practice, the royal family has relatively little political power. At the same time, the royal family has some important functions, which many Norwegians think they have fulfilled very well for many years, says Carl Henrik Knutsen, professor of political science at the University of Oslo.
He is nevertheless in favour of abolishing the institution and was so even before the recent turmoil around the Norwegian royal family flared up.
- In political science, we often call extraordinary times "windows of opportunity". It is often precisely when there is turmoil that one has the chance to assemble a coalition to carry out difficult reforms. A crisis becomes a window of opportunity. At the same time, one may end up making hasty, ill considered decisions, says Knutsen.
He emphasises that constitutional amendments are required to change the form of government in Norway. In practice, this means that a broad majority in the population, and among elected members of parliament, over two parliamentary terms, must prefer making these changes. Recently, a large majority in the Storting -The Norwegian Parliament -voted to keep the current arrangement, so the abolition of the monarchy is not just around the corner.
Listen to Universitetspodden: If we abolish the monarchy in Norway, what is the alternative?
This article is an excerpt from a podcast from the University of Oslo's own podcast, in which democracy researcher and professor of political science Carl Henrik Knutsen discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the monarchy and alternatives to it. Listen to the full podcast below, or on Spotify or Apple Podcasts:
Does not want a powerful president
The democracy researcher stresses that "there are far worse ways of organising a democracy than the way we do it in Norway".
- I would clearly prefer today's arrangement to a presidential system with an overly powerful president, such as we see for example in the United States, says Knutsen.
He emphasises that, also in democracies, it is important not to concentrate all power in the hands of a single person, as is done in strong presidential systems where the president is both head of government and head of state.
- If we were to have a president in Norway, I would prefer a system in which the president has a more limited role - mainly a ribbon cutter, says the democracy researcher, but still with some more substantive, constitutional functions.
- More like a king?
- Yes, more like a king, but with a few more tasks.
- Is a president necessarily the only alternative to the monarchy?
- No, there are other alternatives, but a president is the most obvious one. You need to have a head of state and a head of government, says Knutsen.
He points to a model in which the prime minister is the head of government, with ultimate responsibility for the government and for shaping policy, while the head of state, typically a president, has other functions, including serving as the highest representative symbol for the population.
An anachronism to have a royal family
Carl Henrik Knutsen believes it is an anachronism that positions should be inherited within a particular family, as in the royal house.
- This clashes with key democratic principles that those who hold political power and positions should ultimately derive that power from the preferences of the population.
What has enabled the monarchy to survive for so many years - beyond the fact that it has held no real political power, and that, in practice, the principled issues have mattered little over the past decades - is, according to him, linked to traditions.
- Humans are generally fond of traditions. We are used to seeing the royal family on the palace balcony on 17 May, and they have historically been important unifying figures in times of war and terror. That should not be trivialised. Historically, this royal family has fulfilled its functions well, and that is probably one reason why there has been so little discussion of replacing the monarchy.
No guarantee of a unifying monarch in the future
The democracy researcher nonetheless points out that we do not know how the monarchy will develop in the future.
- We may end up with a completely different kind of monarch from the ones we have had so far. There is no guarantee that the monarch in Norway, whether a king or a queen, will be a unifying figure in the future.
- If you look into your crystal ball: how long will we keep a royal family in Norway?
- If I had to guess, I would think that we will keep the monarchy for quite a long time to come. This is, quite simply, because it is so difficult to change constitutionally, and because there has historically been such strong support for it. So, I think it will depend on who becomes king or queen in the future, in two or three generations' time, says Carl Henrik Knutsen.
