The Oagal Model for saving Norwegian democracy is primarily aimed at the national level.

At the core of the model are:

• free elections with strong alignment between voters’ choices and personal representation in the Stortinget
• the use of deliberative processes and other direct democratic tools to restore the balance between direct and representative democracy,
• a clearer distinction between the legislative and executive branches, along with a substantial strengthening of the judiciary so it can intervene against political and administrative abuses of power, and
• depoliticization of the civil service and public policy inquiries.

Post in Dagsavisen: (a Norwegian daily) In 2025, politicians choose themselves

The Norwegian parliamentarians has the power for democracy development

There is no way around it—members of parliament must take responsibility. After the *annus horribilis* of 2024 for Norwegian democracy, the people now have little or nothing to say, aside from crying out to deaf ears. Members of parliament hold nearly all the power over the state of democracy—and bear a corresponding share of the blame for how things have turned out.

1. On the ballots prepared by political parties, it shall no longer be possible for the parties to assign additional votes. Voters shall have the ability to cross out names, give additional votes, and include candidates from other lists. In addition, we will replace the dreary closed-list system with the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) voting system—as used in New Zealand—which combines direct candidate selection with party voting. This same system will apply to national, county, and municipal elections—members of parliament are not an endangered species and do not need special protection from voters as they currently have.
2. The electoral threshold is lowered to 3 percent.
3. New parties may run a candidate list in a district by collecting either digital or paper signatures from 0.5 percent of the voters in that district. Voters are allowed to support multiple lists.
4. Citizens must, of course, be able to initiate referendums! A larger number of signatures will be required for referendums that have legally binding effect on the Storting than for advisory ones that the Storting may vote on.
5. Citizens must, of course, be able to initiate citizens’ proposals that the Storting is required to vote on!
6. Both the government and the national assembly must make extensive use of deliberative processes, councils, and assemblies:
   • The foundation for referendums and the guidance materials for the issue at hand shall be developed by such assemblies in order to clearly define what is being voted on.
   • Public policy inquiries are depoliticized to ensure credibility. The structure of a government-commissioned report (NOU) greatly influences the outcome of key issues in the Storting. The government defines the issue to be examined. A deliberative council then transforms this into a task definition for a randomly selected citizens’ assembly, which conducts the investigation as far as possible. From there, the work is taken over by subject-matter experts who are unquestionably politically independent. Norway cannot rely on researchers who are disguised politicians—so if necessary, international academic environments must be brought in. The government then prepares its political proposal for further debate in the Storting.
   • Use deliberative assemblies in budget processes
   • Use of deliberative councils in foreign policy matters, including membership in international organizations
   • Use of deliberative councils and assemblies with decision-making authority in certain areas, similar to the Sámi Parliament, but without political members.
   • Citizen juries (for example, related to architectural competitions, the awarding of state grants, and similar matters) are established as deliberative assemblies combined with subject-matter experts.
7. The separation between the government and the Storting must be strengthened. Norway is intended to have a tripartite division of power, but today the legislative and executive branches overlap, while the judiciary is too weak. This must be addressed.
8. The line between politicians and public administration must also be reinforced to ensure that the administration is depoliticized. The civil service must clearly distinguish its work and recommendations, while politicians must clearly state the political direction they base their decisions on. Broad sector representation must be ensured in leadership roles at all levels of administration. The appointment of former politicians as county governors, ombuds, or any kind of public sector leaders must be avoided—both to guarantee political independence and to prevent politicians from easily becoming career politicians, either openly or behind the scenes. All individuals employed in the public administration must swear on the Constitution of Norway that they will act professionally and in a politically neutral manner—any violation of this shall be grounds for dismissal.
9. Measures must be taken to ensure that directorates and other government agencies do not in practice form a fourth level of governance alongside the national government, counties, and municipalities.
10. The judiciary is to be strengthened with the establishment of a constitutional court that can take an active role at all levels of government. This court must be able to voice criticism and intervene more frequently in relation to parliamentary decisions that may violate the Constitution. It must also intervene when counties and municipalities act in violation of laws, regulations, and official guidelines. When citizens and civil society organizations take legal action against public authorities, it must be understood as an essential part of the balance of power.
11. Public ombuds offices are organized under the court system, with shared and efficient administration, a pool of legal professionals, and separate ombuds offices each with their own specialized staff.
12. The distinction between public administration, civil society organizations (NGOs), and the private sector is reinforced. Political parties that are wholly or partly controlled by outsiders are barred from running candidate lists in the constituencies where this occurs. NGOs may receive operating support for up to five years, but must then justify their existence by becoming financially self-sustaining. They are free to apply for project-based funding.
13. The Storting’s Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs is replaced by a nonpolitical deliberative assembly, appointed on a schedule that does not coincide with parliamentary elections. The same applies to oversight committees at the municipal level.
14. The Odelsting is reinstated as a high court of impeachment.
15. Former cabinet members, MPs, and others with privileged access to the Storting must line up with ordinary citizens. They are given a defined contribution pension plan with the same savings rate as is typical in the civil service.
16. The Storting provides local offices for MPs in the cities and regional centers they are elected from, to ensure proximity to their constituents. Voting takes place digitally. Parliament convenes in Oslo periodically.
17. The civil service is strengthened through efficiency measures, relocation to rural areas, unified regional divisions, shared administration, and resource pools—for example, legal professionals. The state leases affordable office space, adapts existing IT systems instead of building from scratch, and cuts functions that do not belong under public responsibility.
18. Because public administration and citizen benefits have grown so disproportionately that the cost level threatens both democracy and the country’s international competitiveness, any new benefit or initiative must, at a minimum, be offset by cuts to other areas of at least the same cost level—measured across the entire value chain.
19. The county authorities and county councils are dissolved, as they represent a part of the democratic system that people do not relate to and that functions more as an expensive workplace for career politicians, as well as an unnecessary administrative layer.
20. The Armed Forces are granted greater autonomy in making procurement decisions based on military, not political, considerations.

This will help.

Christian Sømme

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Christian Sømme er Oagals redaktør og demokratiaktivist. Overalt i Norge og internasjonalt møter han mennesker som ikke kan assosiere seg med og føler maktesløshet overfor beslutningene til politikere, offentlig administrasjon og domstoler. Han har etablert Oagal som en uavhengig mediekanal for å dekke disse problemstillingene, oppsummert som «reelt demokrati». Sømme har vært tillitsmann, by- og stedsutviklingsaktivist i en mannsalder, og demokratiaktivist som Medvirkningsombudet (selvutnevnt) fra 2018 og med Oagal fra 2024. (Foto: Thomas Eckhoff)

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