The Norwegian parliament is called the Storting. Until 2009 there were two chambers but they came to the conclusion that the second chamber was just rubber-stamping legislation so they agreed to abolish it.
A lesson here for Members of Parliament in the UK, where the House of Lords gets bigger every year and members of the House of Commons are vigorously opposing any reduction in their number. Democracy in Norway appears to work in a way that all countries should aspire to. MPs usually have outside jobs and seldom sit for more than two terms (eight years). There are currently eight parties. Labour is the largest and the Green party the smallest with just one MP. Currently there is a coalition government led by the centre-right party with Labour in opposition.
The picture above which reminds me of a 1970s language lab. crossed with a series of IKEA school desks is of the main (only) chamber in the Storting. Touch screens enable members to ask to be called to speak and give details of the order of speakers. Members may not speak from their seats. They must speak from a lectern facing the other members and are usually restricted to 3 or 4 minutes. Green and red buttons are for voting. There are large windows around the chamber looking out on a park where people can be seen and heard, if they are unhappy; accountable democracy at its best. The chamber is on the semi-circular first floor,
There are 169 members of the Storting and 490 administrative staff. This does not show the Oslo Opera House in a good light. You will recall (Into Oslo) that they have 300 performers and 600 additional full-time staff. Of course the opera house and its budget was a decision arrived at democratically in the Storting. Well, I hope they scrutinise their other spending plans with more sensitivity. Ticket prices have a subsidy of 70%, compared to Covent Garden’s 30% and the New York Met’s zero.
Our guide made much of women gaining the vote in Norway prior to the First World War and also to Haakon VII and his descendants. He generously said that he was chosen because of his English wife. He emphasised the openness and transparency in government and to bear this out the last scandal that I can find was in 1963, the Kings Bay affair. A small population and a cohesive society makes for a meaningful democracy.
Oslo has good man-hole covers too.
I am full of admiration for Scandi-Nor countries. Their design and cuisine and architecture and politeness are all inspiring. But they produce their fare share of depression and tedium, both a function of their apparent uniformity or conformity of attitude. I would rather have our problems of scale and diversity.