GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS OF NORWAY AND SWEDEN


Only for the past three years has Norway had an independent political
life, and so few changes in local government have so far been made
under the new king that it will be profitable, in this chapter, to
take up the government and political life as it existed under the
united Constitutional Monarchy of Norway and Sweden. In fact, it is no
different than at that time, except that each has its separate king.
In internal rule, the two countries were always separate, except in
matters that pertained to the common weal of both. Thus, the Swedish
Minister of Foreign Affairs had charge of the United Kingdoms, and, as
previously stated, this was the rock on which the Union finally split.

The constitution of Norway, like that of the United States, invests
all power in the people, who are represented by their legislature and
their judiciary, with the king as an executive to administer the laws
passed by the one, and enforce the decrees of the other. When the
two houses of Parliament disagree upon a measure, they sit in joint
session, when it requires a vote of two-thirds to enact it, and the
approval of the king is necessary. He is also required to promulgate
all the acts of the legislature. Many Norwegian statesmen assert that
the king has no veto power, but merely temporary authority to
suspend a law pending the action of the people. If three successive
parliaments, after three successive elections, pass a bill in exactly
the same terms, it does not require the sanction of the king when
it is passed the fourth time. Thus the people may exercise their
sovereignty.