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Guess we did not read far enough. Joel Send a noteboard - 03/03/2012 10:38:07 PM
The wife did find that article, I think, because I remember her mentioning the king has no vote (which I still think is kind of lame, since all he does is appoint a nominated PM; still not clear on just how much right of refusal he has.)
We had little luck looking it up ourselves, and I am far too fried mentally now to try again just this moment (else I would be replying to Isaac also.)

It's really just a matter of entering "Norway" and "election" into Wikipedia, you know. :P

Incidentally, some of those articles seem to be mentioning that Oslo is in fact biased against with regards to seat distribution, in the sense that the thinly populated peripherical regions get considerably more seats relative to their population than Oslo does - apparently the far right feels that that's costing them seats.

Yeah, I saw several things that looked surprisingly relevant to discussions of whether Americas Electoral College is justified or even sensible. For eksempel:
Each inhabitant scores one point and each square kilometer scores 1.8 points. This calculation is done every eight years. This practice has been criticised because in some larger counties with sparse population a single vote counts more than in other more densely populated counties. Others claim that counties with a scattered and sparse population situated far away from the central administration should have a stronger representation in the Parliament.

The first bolded section makes it sound like they combined the priority of representation by population and area, which makes sense for a unicameral legislature. The second bolded section is one of several arguments wads made against the Electoral College: That WY receives far more electors per resident than NY (though, as I noted at the time, this is offset by awarding those electors as block and the fact NY has far more electors than WY, particularly given that the NYC "tri-state area" covers much of NJ and CT.) A similarly familiar element is
The rural additions: Sparsely populated constituencies get more mandates than the population would suggest. This is to maintain a representative feeling in the national assembly and to prevent urban votes overrunning the rural votes, but has lately been heavily criticised for being undemocratic and not mathematically fair.
Deja vu all over again, eh?

Good news and good news for me. Not only does the federal government contain local representation, it goes out of its way to do so. Further, the parliamentary structure resembles the intent if not form of Americas to a degree somewhat eerie. Rather than preferring our system for offering more local representation, I am more inclined to consider what we could steal from Norway toward that goal (particuarly given how disconnected DC is from everywhere else these days.)

Unless Norway is completely inverted compared to America (and this is far from the first time I have noticed eerily similarities) I think right wing claims under-representing Oslo disenfranchises them are more like excuses. By and large, the left tends to support and the right oppose the welfare state all but designed for large and dense urban areas, and education, with its liberalizing influence, is less vital in rural ones. It is hard to imagine how increasing representation in the metropolitan area that contains about 25% of the country would do anything but hurt the right.

I could be projecting my American perspective too much though; as I understand it, the Progress Party (which I would associate with the recently resurrected "progressive" label America used a century ago) is the far right, the Right Party is moderate and only Labor is the mainstream left party I would expect it to be. With seven parties in Stortinget compared with the three to which I am accustomed (one of which is socialist Bernie Sanders' single seat) my frame of reference is obviously very foreign. Of course, since I will never be able to vote here I guess it does not matter. :P
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This message last edited by Joel on 03/03/2012 at 10:39:29 PM
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Now That Romney Is Officially the Republican Presidential Nominee: Pick the President! - 29/02/2012 08:29:02 PM 1246 Views
I have never understood the point of the Electoral College. - 29/02/2012 11:39:11 PM 693 Views
You don't think like a politician then - 01/03/2012 12:38:36 AM 733 Views
I also have not seen most of that mentioned in the popular vs. electoral debate. - 01/03/2012 02:34:31 PM 619 Views
what about one vote one value? - 02/03/2012 11:51:32 PM 703 Views
That has not really changed. - 03/03/2012 03:30:34 AM 885 Views
a bit simplistic and unrealistic - 02/03/2012 11:44:02 PM 661 Views
When illustrating a point realism is not required and simplicity is a plus - 03/03/2012 03:04:26 AM 677 Views
I have a couple quibbles. - 03/03/2012 05:23:46 AM 702 Views
Oh, certainly, I'm over-generalizing but I was already getting long-winded - 03/03/2012 06:52:04 AM 667 Views
I hate when people do that. - 05/03/2012 09:49:36 AM 647 Views
What a bunch of waffle! - 03/03/2012 10:47:19 AM 802 Views
First you complain of simplicity then of my lack of brevity? - 03/03/2012 11:18:11 AM 597 Views
A simplistic argument doesn't mean it's brief *NM* - 03/03/2012 09:55:51 PM 330 Views
Also I don't like this refrain that implies only the POTUS vote matters - 03/03/2012 03:29:58 AM 822 Views
IMHO, parliaments choosing prime ministers is LESS democratic than the electoral college. - 03/03/2012 05:57:41 AM 624 Views
Re: IMHO, parliaments choosing prime ministers is LESS democratic than the electoral college. - 03/03/2012 07:02:30 AM 660 Views
*is learning* - 04/03/2012 09:49:42 PM 652 Views
Re: *is learning* - 04/03/2012 09:56:16 PM 665 Views
To the extent I can (yet again) claim to speak for Europeans... - 04/03/2012 10:33:01 PM 641 Views
I've fairly limited exposure and that from some years back - 04/03/2012 11:35:12 PM 700 Views
Re: *is learning* - 05/03/2012 12:08:08 AM 703 Views
You could imitate the French. - 07/03/2012 10:40:16 PM 635 Views
That seems... unlikely.... - 08/03/2012 03:03:54 PM 636 Views
I don't know much about Norwegian politics, but you seem to be wrong. - 03/03/2012 06:18:08 PM 672 Views
Do you happen to have that link, please? - 03/03/2012 06:46:31 PM 555 Views
Sure. - 03/03/2012 06:58:07 PM 728 Views
Guess we did not read far enough. - 03/03/2012 10:38:07 PM 671 Views
Yeah, you have to know a few things about European politics... - 03/03/2012 11:49:44 PM 873 Views
Re: Yeah, you have to know a few things about European politics... - 05/03/2012 06:56:24 AM 674 Views
Fascinating. - 05/03/2012 10:52:32 PM 654 Views
Re: Yeah, you have to know a few things about European politics... - 08/03/2012 07:11:12 PM 625 Views
Many valid reasons, including those Isaac cited. - 02/03/2012 02:26:37 AM 771 Views
Most states are ignored anyway - 02/03/2012 11:56:12 PM 849 Views
Why would we do something logical? Dude, you're utterly ridiculous. *NM* - 05/03/2012 04:53:38 PM 365 Views
I'm kind of sad- does this mean Santorum won't be providing wonderful sound bites anymore? - 01/03/2012 02:22:31 PM 613 Views
Nothing has shut him up yet, why should this? *NM* - 01/03/2012 05:27:30 PM 348 Views
Maybe he'll pull a Palin and go touring around the country *NM* - 01/03/2012 07:06:02 PM 318 Views
No, it probably means we will get more and worse than ever. - 01/03/2012 11:25:25 PM 794 Views
Romney or Obama, either way, America loses. *NM* - 02/03/2012 01:10:26 AM 440 Views
Hard to dispute that either; six of one, half a dozen of the other. - 02/03/2012 01:38:07 AM 596 Views
Couldn't agree more *NM* - 02/03/2012 06:52:51 PM 357 Views
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You should put that on your license plates. - 03/03/2012 06:41:34 AM 720 Views
Re: You should put that on your license plates. - 03/03/2012 06:51:00 AM 664 Views
Ax murderers are people, too! - 04/03/2012 08:23:41 PM 616 Views
And what are you basing all of this on? - 03/03/2012 09:54:06 PM 707 Views
The closeness of several states when Obama was far more popular, and UTs heavily Mormon neighbors. - 03/03/2012 11:44:06 PM 659 Views
Wrong - 04/03/2012 08:08:56 AM 782 Views
Higher turnout magnifies the Mormon effect. - 04/03/2012 08:08:09 PM 817 Views
Your reasoning is flawed and if you can't see it there is no hope for you - 05/03/2012 11:39:04 PM 723 Views
Yeah, I think we had that conversation already, several times, in fact. - 07/03/2012 05:36:45 AM 561 Views
Do you have any knowledge of statistics at all? - 07/03/2012 09:04:15 PM 720 Views
I hate this message board - 07/03/2012 09:06:30 PM 516 Views
Some, though it is far from exhaustive. - 08/03/2012 02:29:06 PM 700 Views

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