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Norway

Monthly Event Reports

December 2023 | Parliament bans conversion therapy with a broad majority

Parliament voted to prohibit conversion therapy, which involves practices or procedures attempting to forcibly change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, with 85 MPs voting in favour, and 15 against. The amendments to the criminal code make conducting conversion therapy punishable by three years in prison (six years in case of a particularly serious violation). The legislation also criminalises the marketing or advertising of forms of conversion therapy, including medical or religious methods.

September 2023 | Labour party suffers first-time loss in local elections in 99 years
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The results of the local elections show a shift towards more conservative local government. After more than a century, conservative opposition parties, including the right-wing anti-immigration Progress Party (FrP), came out ahead. The 11 September polls asked voters to elect representatives for local councils in 356 municipalities and 11 counties. The ruling centre-left Labour party lost ground, marking the first time the party did not place first in local elections since 1924. Labour placed second, declining from 24.9 per cent of the vote in 2019 to 21.7 per cent. The opposition centre-right Høyre won 25.9 per cent of the vote, up from 20.1 per cent in the 2019 local elections, even outperforming Labour in Oslo. FrP came in third on an anti-immigration platform, boosting its vote share from 8.3 per cent to 11.4 per cent. The turnout was 62.4 per cent, down from 64.7 per cent in 2019. A total of 42 per cent of candidates who stood in the election are women, according to Statistics Norway (a decrease of 0.7 percentage points compared to the 2019 election).

August 2023 | Data protection watchdog fines Meta over behavioural advertising

In August, the Norwegian Data Protection Authority’s temporary ban on Meta’s behavioural advertising went into effect, and the watchdog began fining Meta NOK 1,000,000 per day for non-compliance. The decision, taken in July, instituted a three-month ban on Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, from targeting users with behavioural advertising on its social media platforms, which track users’ online activity for marketing purposes. According to the Data Protection Authority, the decision seeks to safeguard the data protection rights of Norwegian users, where Meta fails to secure consent to process users’ behavioural data. Earlier in July, the European Court of Justice ruled that users visiting a platform cannot be construed to mean that the user manifestly makes sensitive data public, as grounds for permitting such data to be processed. Meta has filed a case with the Oslo District Court to grant a temporary injunction to halt the ban, and a decision is expected in September.

July 2023 | Parliament disciplinary committee launches conflict of interest probe into government

Opposition parties reached a quorum within Parliament’s disciplinary committee to initiate an investigation into the Norwegian government’s handling of a series of conflict of interest cases. Culture Minister Anette Trettebergstuen resigned, while Tonje Brenna remains in her post as Education Minister, after it became public at the end of June that they had both separately appointed friends to board positions for the state opera and for a Norwegian foundation, respectively. In July, Minister for Higher Education and Research Ola Borten Moe resigned over allegations he breached ethics rules by purchasing shares in defense company Kongsberg Gruppen immediately prior to participating in a meeting to discuss awarding the company’s subsidiary a lucrative government contract. Norway’s economic crime department, Økokrim, is mulling whether to open a full investigation into Moe’s purchase of shares while minister. The committee’s findings will be put to a vote in Parliament and can lead to a motion of no-confidence in the most severe case.

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GSoD Indices Data 2013-2022

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Basic Information

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Population Tooltip
5 408 320
System of government
Parliamentary system
Head of government
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (since 2021)
Head of government party
Labour Party
Electoral system for lower or single chamber
List Proportional Representation
Women in lower or single chamber
46.2%
Women in upper chamber
Not applicable
Last legislative election
2021
Effective number of political parties Tooltip
6.43
Head of state
King Harald V
Selection process for head of state
Hereditary or election by hereditary state rulers
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) date
06/05/2019
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) percentage of recommendations supported
73.03%
Population Tooltip
5 408 320
System of government
Parliamentary system
Head of government
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (since 2021)
Head of government party
Labour Party
Electoral system for lower or single chamber
List Proportional Representation
Women in lower or single chamber
46.2%
Women in upper chamber
Not applicable
Last legislative election
2021
Effective number of political parties Tooltip
6.43
Head of state
King Harald V
Selection process for head of state
Hereditary or election by hereditary state rulers
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) date
06/05/2019
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) percentage of recommendations supported
73.03%
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Human Rights Treaties

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State Party State party
Signatory Signatory
No Action No action
United Nations Human Right Treaties
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
State Party
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
State Party
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
State Party
Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
State Party
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment
State Party
Convention on the Rights of the Child
State Party
International Convention on Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
No Action
International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance 
State Party
International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
State Party
International Labour Organisation Treaties
Forced Labour Convention
State Party
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention
State Party
Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention
State Party
Equal Remuneration Convention
State Party
Abolition of Forced Labour Convention
State Party
Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention
State Party
Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment
State Party
Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
State Party
Regional Treaties
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol No. 4 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol No. 6 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol No. 7 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol No. 12 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
Signatory
Protocol No. 13 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
in
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Performance by category over the last 6 months

Representation neutral Representation
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Representation neutral Rights
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Representation neutral Rule of law
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Representation neutral Participation
Sep 2023
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Dec
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Feb 2024

Global State of Democracy Indices

Hover over the trend lines to see the exact data points across the years

Explore the indices
Representation
Representation
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Rights
Rights
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Rule of Law
Rule of Law
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Participation
Participation
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Annual value

Factors of Democratic Performance Over Time

Use the slider below to see how democratic performance has changed over time

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