Democracy researcher: The monarchy's days are not yet numbered

The recent issues surrounding the Norwegian royal family have led many to ask whether the monarchy has outlived its role.

Given the way Norwegian democracy is set up in practice, the royal family has relatively little political power, explains Carl Henrik Knutsen, professor of political science at the University of Oslo.

"At the same time, the royal family has some important functions that many Norwegians think they have fulfilled very well for many years,” he says.

He is nevertheless in favour of abolishing the institution, and was so even before the recent turmoil around the Norwegian royal family flared up.

Changing the form of government requires a constitutional amendment

“In political science, we often call extraordinary times windows of opportunity. It is often precisely when there is turmoil that one has the chance to assemble a coalition to carry out difficult reforms. At the same time, one may end up making hasty and bad decisions,” says Knutsen.

He emphasises that constitutional amendments are required to change the form of government in Norway. In practice, this means a broad majority among the population and among elected politicians over two parliamentary terms.

Recently, a large majority in the Norwegian Parliament voted to keep the current arrangement, so the abolition of the monarchy is not just around the corner.

Does not want a powerful president

The democracy researcher stresses that there are far worse ways to organise a democracy than what Norway has.

“I would clearly prefer today’s arrangement to a presidential system with an overly powerful president, such as we see, for example, in the United States,” says Knutsen.

He emphasises that even in democracies, it is important not to concentrate all power in the hands of a single person.

That is exactly what is done in strong presidential systems, where the president is both head of government and head of state. 

“If we were to have a president in Norway, I would prefer a system in which the president has a more limited role, like a ribbon cutter, but still with some more substantive functions,” says the democracy researcher.

You need to have a head of state

“More like a king?”

“Yes, more like a king, but with a few more responsibilities,” says Knutsen.

“Is a president the only alternative to the monarchy?”

“No, there are other alternatives, but a president is the most obvious one. You need to have a head of state and a head of government,” he says.

He points to a model in which the prime minister is the head of government, with ultimate responsibility for the government and for shaping policies.

Meanwhile, the head of state, typically a president, has other functions, including serving as the highest representative symbol for the population.

An anachronism to have a royal family

Carl Henrik Knutsen believes that passing positions down within a single family, as in the royal household, is outdates.

“This clashes with key democratic principles that those who hold political power and positions should ultimately derive that power from the preferences of the population,” he explains.

What has enabled the monarchy to survive for so many years – beyond the fact that it has held no real political power, and that the principled issues have had little practical significance in recent decades – is, according to him, linked to traditions.

“Humans are generally fond of traditions. We are used to seeing the royal family on the palace balcony on 17 May, and they have historically been important unifying figures in times of war and terror. That should not be trivialised," he says. 

Historically, this royal family has fulfilled its functions well, and that is probably one reason why there has been so little discussion of replacing the monarchy, he adds.

No guarantee of a unifying monarch in the future

However, the democracy researcher points out that we do not know how the monarchy will develop in the future.

“We may end up with a completely different kind of monarch from the ones we have had so far. There is no guarantee that the monarch in Norway, whether a king or a queen, will be a unifying figure in the future,” he says.

“If you were to look into a crystal ball: how long will we keep a royal family in Norway?”

“If I had to guess, I would think that we will keep the monarchy for quite a long time. Simply because it's so difficult to change constitutionally, and because there has historically been such strong support for it. So I think it will depend on who becomes king or queen in the future, in two or three generations’ time,” says Carl Henrik Knutsen.

Listen to the Norwegian podcast episode below:

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Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no

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