This article gives an overview of liberalism in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. It is limited to

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

parties A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature fo ...

with substantial support, mainly proved by having been represented in the Norwegian Parliament,

Stortinget The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years base ...

Background

The

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

(''Venstre'', literally "Left") was the first organized political force in Norway, and was for long times the dominant political party (from the 1880s to the 1920s). Since the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, it has been one of the minor parties, but still represented in parliament. Today, Venstre is a centrist liberal party. Venstre is also one of the founding members of the

Liberal International Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberal political parties - a political international. It was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties, aiming to strengthen liberalism around ...

. Venstre calls itself 'the only liberal party in Norway', though this is disputed by other parties who also refer to themselves as liberal. The

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

(''Høyre'', literally "Right",) was the second organized political party in Norway. After the Second World War, it has at points been the second largest party in elections. In its policies, Høyre supports moderate free market liberalism, while being moderately conservative in social issues. There are, however, more liberally oriented factions within the party. The Progress Party (Norwegian: ''Fremskrittspartiet'') formed in 1973. Over the years, the party has supported a variety of liberal positions, especially in regards to a market economy, but also on some social issues. During the 1980s, the party was influenced by libertarianism, but this influence has decreased from the early 1990s and onwards. Since 2006, the party has become more socially conservative in orientation. This might have changed again to a certain degree recently however, as the party chose to vote in favor of same-sex marriage in the 2013 national convention, as well as party leader Siv Jensen's focus on liberalism in recent news articles. The Progress Party is also skeptical of non-Western immigration, which could be seen as conflicting with traditional liberal values. The party has in several elections been the second largest party in Norway, but has never participated in government until the election of 2013, when they formed a coalition government with the Conservative Party. The

Capitalist Party Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...

(Norwegian: ''Liberalistene'') is a newer party grounded in

classical liberalism Classical liberalism is a political tradition Political culture describes how culture impacts politics. Every political system is embedded in a particular political culture. Definition Gabriel Almond defines it as "the particular patt ...

and

Laissez-faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups. ...

capitalism. It advocates personal freedom and autonomy. This party has not yet been represented in parliament. The Liberal People's Party (Norwegian: ''Det Liberale Folkepartiet'') is a minor, classical liberal party, with a focus on

Objectivism Objectivism is a philosophical system developed by Russian Americans, Russian-American writer and philosopher Ayn Rand. She described it as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with prod ...

. It has never been represented in parliament.

History

The following are events of Norway's liberalism, beginning with the 19th century. * 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

impeachment Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In ...

trial in the same year, and the leader of Venstre,

Johan Sverdrup Johan Sverdrup (30 July 1816 – 17 February 1892) was a Norwegian politician from the Liberal Party. He was the first prime minister of Norway after the introduction of parliamentarism and served as the 4th prime minister of Norway. Sverdrup was ...

, becomes the first

Prime Minister of Norway The prime minister of Norway ( no, statsminister, which directly translates to "minister of state") is the head of government and chief executive of Norway. The prime minister and Cabinet (consisting of all the most senior government department ...

taken from the ranks of Stortinget. * 1888: A group of

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

conservatives leaves Venstre to form ''Moderate Venstre'' ( The Moderate Left). The party is later reunited with Venstre, but the present-day Christian People's Party also claims Moderate Venstre as its forerunner. * 1903: The right wing of Venstre leaves the party and forms ''Frisinnede Venstre'' (

Free-minded Liberal Party The Free-minded Liberal Party ( no, Frisinnede Venstre) was a political party in Norway founded in 1909 by the conservative-liberal faction of the Liberal Party. The party cooperated closely with the Conservative Party and participated in severa ...

). * 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 The Conservative Party or The Right ( nb, Høyre, nn, Høgre, , H; se, Olgešbellodat) is a liberal-conservative political party in Norway. It is the major party of the Norwegian centre-right, and was the leading party in government as part of ...

(literally ''Right'') * 1972: Venstre is split over the issue of Norway's accession to the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

. The Pro-EEC faction forms ''Nye Venstre'' (New Left), later renamed ''Det Liberale Folkeparti'' ( Liberal People's Party). * 1988: Venstre and Det Liberale Folkeparti are reunited. * 1992: Former members of the Det Liberale Folkeparti founded the a new Liberal People's Party. * 1994: A libertarian wing of the populist Progress Party, counting among them four members of Stortinget, forms its own party,

Fridemokratene The Free Democrats ( no, Fridemokratene) is a political organization formed by former members of the Progress Party of Norway in 1994. The 1993 Norwegian parliamentary election, 1993 election saw the support of the Progress Party (6.3 percent and ...

(Free Democrats) or joined the Det Liberale Folkepartiet. 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. * 2014: ''Liberalistene'' (

Classical Liberals Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, economic ...

) was founded. * 2017: Det Liberale Folkeparti merged with Liberalistene.

Liberal leaders

Johannes Steen Johannes Wilhelm Christian Steen (22 July 1827 - 1 April 1906) was a Norwegian statesman and educator who served as the 6th prime minister of Norway from 1891 to 1893 and from 1898 to 1902. Background He was born in Christiania (now Oslo, Nor ...

Gunnar Knudsen Gunnar Knudsen (19 September 1848 – 1 December 1928), born Aanon Gunerius Knudsen, was a Norwegian politician from the Liberal Party who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Norway twice from 1908 to 1910 and from 1913 to 1920. He also inherited ...

Lars Sponheim Lars Sponheim (born 23 May 1957) 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 served as Co ...

Background

History

Liberal leaders

References

See also