Knut Heidar

Predestined Parties?: Organizational Change in Norwegian Political Parties

In this article, we analyse changes, and the debates about changes, in the relationship between Norwegian political parties and their members. We ask whether parties develop from mass parties towards a ‘network model’, and whether such changes represent organizational convergence. The organizational diagnoses of the parties and their prescribed cures are similar. Thematic network structures, increased inclusiveness and membership ballots are debated within the parties, but actual change has been modest. While the Internet has brought about substantial change in the internal communication of parties, there is remarkable stability in Norwegian party organizations. Many of the structures and practices of the mass party remain, but network structures have emerged as an alternative ideal.

Parliamentary Party Groups in European Democracies: Political parties behind closed doors

Introduction: representative democracy and parliamentary party groups Knut Heidar and Ruud Koole Chapter 1. Approaches to the study of parliamentary party groups Knut Heidar and Ruud Koole Chapter 2. Bureaucratisation, co-ordination and competition: parliamentary party groups in the German Bundestag Thomas Saalfeld Chapter 3. The United Kingdom: exerting influence from within Philip Norton Chapter 4. Parliamentary parties in the French fifth republic Jean-Louis Thiebault and Bernard Dolez Chapter 5. Not yet the locus of power: parliamentary party groups in Austria Wolfgang C. Muller and Barbara Steininger Chapter 6. Fractiocracy? Limits to the ascendancy of the parliamentary party group in Dutch politics Chapter 7. PPGs in Belgium: subjects of partititocratic dominion Lieven de Winter and Patrick Dumont Chapter 8. A power centre in Danish politics Lars Bille Chapter 9. Parliamentary party groups in the Swedish Riksdag Magnus Hagevi Chapter 10. The partyness of the Finnish Eduskunta Matti Wiberg Chapter 11. The limits of whips and watchdogs in the Czech Republic Petr Kopecky Chapter 12. Parliamentary party groups in Slovakia Darina Malova and Kevin Deegan Krause Chapter 13. Parties and parliamentary party groups in the making: Hungary 1989-1997 Gabriella Ilonszki Chapter 14. Second-rate parties? Towards a better understanding of the European parliaments party groups Tapio Raunio Chapter 15. Parliamentary party groups compared Knut Heidar and Ruud Koole

A decline of linkage? Intra‐party participation in Norway, 1991–2000

. The decline in party membership in Western Europe is generally taken as an indicator of party transformation. This article looks beyond membership figures and asks whether membership decline should be interpreted to mean that the activities and motivation of the remaining members are changing. Hypotheses on changes in party activism and motivation for party membership are tested with data from the 1991 and 2000 Norwegian party member surveys. Rather than uncovering evidence of change, most analyses point to a remarkable level of stability. Active and passive members seem to have disappeared at about the same rate. The general diagnosis of party decline is neither improved nor aggravated, but the analysis casts doubt on propositions about the transformation of the grassroots organisation. The Internet is used by party office-holders and the young, but the grassroots rarely use the new technology for political purposes. The character of the representative and participatory linkages provided by parties has, however, changed as a consequence of a shrinking party membership.

Democracy within Norwegian Political Parties Complacency or Pressure for Change

How democratic are the political parties in Norway? We use survey data from Norwegian party members (1991 and 2000) and Congress delegates (2000-1) to discuss two main questions: how do party members and Congress delegates evaluate the state of intra-party democracy? And what kind of intra-party democracy do they prefer? The analyses do not support the thesis of an increasing centralization of party decision making. Members were reasonably satisfied with the leadership, but those in positions of power were more satisfied than the grassroots. Participants at all levels preferred the present delegatory type of democracy to more direct democratic procedures. The attitudes of the participants do not indicate any strong pressure for organizational change, but declining membership and lack of legitimacy may still bring changes to intra-party decision-making.

Norwegian parties and the party system: Steadfast and changing

Abstract Norwegian political parties have changed in terms of party membership and organisational modes, significantly reducing the value of the mass party and catch-all party models. Membership has declined and decision-making processes have opened up to increased networking, although the formal organisational structures remain close to those of the old mass party. Political changes have transformed the old two-bloc system, making it more open and fluid. This ‘diffused’ party system is more dependent on small electoral changes and post-election negotiations than was the traditional and more predictable bloc system. Norwegian democracy has thus become more differentiated and representative, but at the same time less accountable to the electorate.

Roles, Structures and Behaviour: Norwegian Parliamentarians in the Nineties

The empirical analysis presented in this article gives little reason for disregarding traditional images of the representatives of the Norwegian Storting as egalitarian minded, party based and district orientated. We found few trustees, but many delegates. There were also more MPs of the partisan and constituency varieties than policy advocates and parliamentary men. The most frequent role in the Norwegian Storting, however, was the ‘no role’ type. Judged on the basis of the history of the Storting as well as the literature describing it, that is more likely to be the truth than an incomprehensible paradox, as the egalitarian nature of the asssembly and the low level of parliamentary institutionalisation is not the best of circumstances for generating firm role models.

The Norwegian labour party: ‘En attendant l'Europe’

The Norwegian Labour Party revised its programme of principles in 1981. This marked the beginning of a decade of ideological reorientation, if not so much programmatic change. Through the internal ‘Freedom Debate’ the leadership sanctioned views on the state, the markets, the identity of the party itself and Labours relations with the trade unions underwent change. Triggered by the electoral defeat of 1981 and influenced by tendencies in international social democracy, individualism and social pluralism became ideologically accepted concepts of analysis for the ‘modernised’ Labour Party. Traditional left groups within and outside the party presented little opposition; the loudest protests came from a handful of trade union leaders.

All about the Party? Constituency Representation—and Service—in Norway

The article investigates the relationship between Norwegian MPs and their home constituency. The approach is based on the concept of constituency representation, which combines representational focus and constituency service. The data used in the empirical analysis comprise both surveys and in-depth interviews with MPs. It shows that MPs have multiple representative foci. The party is most important, but (party) voters in the constituency are also considered essential. Moreover, MPs actively pursue constituency interests and rate this work very importantly. Indeed, constituency effort represents an essential and time-consuming part of Norwegian parliamentarians’ work. They target local policy-friendly organisations and media, and work for general constituency interest simultaneously—when possible also in cooperation with MPs from other parties. In conclusion, the article discusses contextual factors that may contribute to explain MPs’ constituency representation in Norway.

Parliamentary Party Groups: To Whom is the Midfield Accountable?

In multiparty parliamentary democracies, the parliamentary party groups (PPGs) relate to voters and the general public, to the party organization, and—particularly if in government—to government initiatives. Especially in countries with traditionally strong party organizations, like in the Nordic democracies, this puts the PPGs at the crossroad of three different streams of policy making. Modeling unitary parties consequently become a dubious undertaking. Weak party discipline in parliament may of course be an indication that the overall party unity is shaky. But also strong disciplined PPGs may act in ways that fragmentize overall party power. Moreover, it follows that not considering the crucial power of PPGs and the role they play in decision making may lead to inadequate maps of power structures. In this chapter, I will first explore the position attributed to PPGs in some recent works on parties and parliaments. Expanding on the work by Heidar and Koole, I explore the thesis that PPGs are underestimated in many works both on parties and on parliaments. The chapter provides a discussion of the implications of this relative neglect for both fields of research.

Book Review: How Parties Respond. Interest Aggregation Revisited

The democratic qualities of parties depend on their capacity to respond to citizen demands and to aggregate interests into ‘manageable and reasonably coherent’ (p. 4) policy packages. This goes for the populist version of democracy, where parties and politicians mirror voter opinions, as well as the paternalist version, where they act in their interests. The book reviewed here deals not only with how parties respond (or do not respond) to changing political opinions in electorate and membership, but more generally how parties respond to the changing context leading to organizational, financial and technological measures. In the introductory essay, Thomas Poguntke makes the point that party elites are actively responding to make parties ‘more compatible with the social realities at the beginning of the twenty-first century’ (p. 1). These responses are shaped by ‘opportunity structures’ and by elite strategies. Facing a decline in membership, parties have responded by trying to build alternative (and more direct) means of communication with their members. Moreover, the party elites have compensated for the weakening organizational linkage by undertaking more market research among voters. There is also a tendency in parties for more ‘personalization’ in the face of increased internationalization, which reduces the influence of national politics altogether. This general approach is taken up in ten chapters on specific countries and parties, chapters written by experts and focusing mainly on West European developments, although Russia and Canada are included. The rationale is that, until now, ‘interest aggregation’ has been widely studied mostly in the US, making a case for broadening the geographic scope of such studies. These chapters are all informative and useful in updating our knowledge of party changes. Some are rich on detail, but all provide valuable overviews for old ‘party watchers’ and invaluable introductions to the literature and contexts for the newcomer. Two chapters take up the story of the British Labour Party’s change from PA R T Y P O L I T I C S V O L 1 2 . N o . 6 pp. 769–780