Heretics' almanac: What we learned: Norway's 2005 election

Something like 72.9% showed up to vote in Norway this parliamentary election. Norwegian election pundits are really annoying, easily engaging in overstatements that are nothing short of nauseating, rather than explaining facts. Let's look at each party, based on the prognoses published by Dagbladet:

The Labor Party: 32.8% popular vote, 60 mandates. That's an improvement over 2001, when they got 24.3%. And indeed, this is seen as a "victory" for the Labor Party. Not so fast:
- It might seem like a noteworthy improvement, except that 2001 was by far the worst the party's done since at least 1957, and 2005 will go down as the next worst, so far.
- The Labor Party is on a long-term decline in Norwegian politics, and I think there's two reasons for that.
  - One is that, let's face it, they have no new ideas. Since the 1980s, Labor governments have pretty much been implementing the Conservative party's platform of 10 years earlier.
  - The other is that socialism as an ideology is dead. There's no working class to speak of left in Norway, the social democratic experiment has been completed, and to the extent that socialism is a countercultural movement, it's been fully absorbed into mainstream culture.
The Progressive Party: 21.9%, 36 mandates.
- That's a pretty big bump from 14.6%, and the best the party's ever done since its debut in 1973 when it shocked the political establishment by getting 5% of the popular vote.
- It should be pretty clear by now that the other politicians have to stop treating this party like a fringe, special-interest lobby.
- On the other hand, the Progressive Party will have to drop its populist tendencies - especially those of the xenophobic variety - once it becomes party of the earnest opposition.
The Conservative Party: 14%, 23 mandates.
- That's a big drop from 2001, when it got 21.2% of the popular vote. It's been about that bad before, and the party has clearly lost its position as the most prominent non-socialist mainstream party.
- It used to be that the Conservative Party was the party of brains, but that's no longer the case. Although Norwegian brains avoid politics in Norway these days, it's pretty clear that the Conservative party has lost its way. I suppose conservativism as an ideology has gone the same way as socialism, but it's incredible how poorly the Conservative party is able to differentiate itself in the political debate.
Socialist Left: 8.8%, 15 mandates.
- They probably have the cutest and most charming leaders, but they went down from 12.5% in the last election. Still, they're Norway's fourth largest party.
- What to say about these guys? Whether you agree or disagree with the party (and I mostly disagree), they're more honest than most, and that's probably why they get votes at all.
Christian Democrats, 6.8%, 11 mandates.
- That pretty much cut the party in half, from an already not-too-impressive 12.4% in 2001. It really takes something to view 12.4% as a mandate to lead a national government, but these guys pulled it off in 2001. That kind of nerve probably lost the non-socialist block the election this year. Thanks, guys.
- Easily the most annoying party, and the newspapers predict that Kjell Magne Bondevik, the current prime minister, is done with national politics. He can retire, or maybe go back to being a minister and soccer coach. Learn some humility. Good riddance.
- It's hard to see this party being anything but a special interest group for a dwindling crowd in Norway: the self-righteous religious crowd.
Center Party, 6.9%, 11 mandates, up from 5.6%.
- Talk about special interest party. What are these guys about? Propping up industries at everyone else's expense. Fuck education, health care, pensions for everyone else. Let's keep those farms running, those fisheries afloat. And let's call that "green" politics, as if depleting fish reserves and artificial fertilizer is good for the environment.
- I've long since said that the Center Party is a socialist party, and at least they've given up pretense of being anything else. Maybe the Labor Party will throw them a ministerial post, maybe not.
The Liberal Party, 5.9%, 10 mandates up from 3.9% in 2001.
- Anyone who thinks about it believes that Venstre is the smallest party with the most sensible platform. This should be the up-and-coming party that is moderate in its ideology and pragmatic in its approach. It should attract the brains from the entire political spectrum, use triangulation, etc.
- What it all comes down to is they have to focus on winning elections rather than managing egos. They might not like Carl I. Hagen, but they can learn something from him about promoting a party platform.

All in all, this election was another data point in the demise of Norwegian political life. The Conservative party is stuck in its own underwear, the Labor Party is chained to the unions and the radical youth organization, the Progressive Party remains a populist force with some disturbing trends, and most of the rest are special interest groups.

The Liberal party is the only beacon of hope, but they have a long way to go. You'd almost have to hope they didn't get too encouraged by this year's progress.