POLITEX The Political Executive: Cabinet Government Praxis Between Laws and Norms

Photo: Mikhail Pavstyuk/Unsplash

Duration: 31.12.2021–31.12.2025

What shapes the role of the cabinet minister?

Contact

Jostein Askim University of Oslo Principle Investigator

About the project

POLITEX asks four fundamental and interrelated questions:

What are the status and functions of the government cabinet?
How does the cabinet make its decisions?
What characterizes and shapes the role of the cabinet minister?
How are norms about agenda setting, decision-making, and roles in the cabinet transferred to new office holders?

The project also studies the persistent tension a cabinet is in, between fragmenting forces (e.g., multiparty governments and sectoral specialization) and integrating forces (e.g., decision rules and a strong PMO).

In political science and legal scholarship, formal regulations and institutional structures have often been privileged objects of studies. When the cabinet barely exists constitutionally, as in Norway, approaches focusing on norms and socialization must also be used to understand cabinet practice. Therefore, POLITEX combines sociological and historical perspectives with perspectives from political science and legal scholarship.

In terms of research design, the project is in-depth, spatial and temporal. Deepest data is collected for Norway, but considerable data is collected for Sweden and Denmark, too, to accommodate spatial comparisons. The project's data collection components are interviews with political and bureaucratic elites, a survey, document and archive study, and biographic data.

For the scientific community, the project entails a timely renewal of a research agenda that has been quiet the last 25 years. The aptness of the country cases and the multidisciplinary research design enable both the understanding of collegiality in the Nordic countries and the development of new theory on the forms of and conditions for collegiality. These insights can be used heuristically in the study of cabinet government in other countries and other political contexts.

Participants

Jostein Askim University of Oslo
Kristoffer Kolltveit University of Oslo
Bjørn Erik Rasch University of Oslo
Marte Mangset University of Oslo
Eirik Holmøyvik University of Bergen
Yngve Flo University of Bergen

Published

Askim, Jostein & Christensen, Tom (2022). Crisis decision-making inside the core executive: Rationality, bureaucratic politics, standard procedures and the COVID-19 lockdown. Public Policy and Administration doi: 10.1177/09520767221129676.

Askim, Jostein & Karlsson, Bendik Rød (2022). Koalisjonskontroll i praksis, fra regjeringen Lyng til regjeringen Solberg (1963-2021). Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning 63(1): 5–25. doi: 10.18261/issn.1504-291x-2022-01-01.

Askim, Jostein, Bjørn Mo Forum and Bent Sofus Tranøy. (2024). The party politics of policy endurance: Parliamentary settlement practices in Norway, 1980-2021. In: Positive Public Administration: New Directions for Theory and Practice, eds. Tina Nabatchi, Janine O’Flynn & Paul ‘t Hart (pp. 400-423). Oxford University Press. doi:10.4337/9781803929170.00034

Askim, Jostein, Yngve Flo, Eirik Holmøyvik, Kristoffer Kolltveit, Marte Mangset & Bjørn Erik Rasch (2024). Regjeringen: Historien, makten og hverdagen. Fagbokforlaget.

Askim, Jostein; Bach, Tobias & Christensen, Jørgen Grønnegård (2022). Political change and administrative turnover in meritocratic systems. West European Politics 47(2): 329–355. doi: 10.1080/01402382.2022.2148195.

Askim, Jostein; Kolltveit, Kristoffer & Smith, Eivind (2023). Ministerial advisers in the Scandinavian tradition. I Shaw, Richard (red.), Handbook on Ministerial and Political Advisers. Edward Elgar Publishing. (pp. 251–265).

Bjerkaas, Sunniva & Kolltveit, Kristoffer (2023). Statsministerens kontor: Kommunikasjonens høyborg i et moderne medielandskap? Norsk Statsvitenskapelig Tidsskrift 39(2): 56-73.https://doi.org/10.18261/nst.39.2.1

Kolltveit, Kristoffer & Askim, Jostein (2022). The Norwegian Core Executive: Baronial Courts and Inner Circles? In Kristoffer Kolltveit & Richard Shaw (eds). Core Executives in a Comparative Perspective: Governing in Complex Times. Palgrave. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-94503-9_11.

In press

Askim, Jostein, Tobias Bach, and Jørgen Grønnegård Christensen. Quiet Politicization in Northern Europe. In: Handbook of Politicization and Political Patronage, edited by B. Guy Peters, Colin Knox, Francesco Panizza, Conrado Ramos, and Katarína Staroňová. Palgrave.

Askim, Jostein, Yngve Flo, Eirik Holmøyvik and Kristoffer Kolltveit. Coordinating the Core Executive in Norway: The Prime Minister’s Office. In: Coordination at the Core? Executive decision-making in international organizations and the EU, eds. Jean-Michel Eymeri-Douzans, Marie Goransson and Hussein Kassim. Palgrave.

Askim, Jostein. The Norwegian Cabinet. In: The Oxford Handbook of Norwegian Politics, edited by Elin. Haugsgjerd Allern, Målfrid Braut-Hegghammer, Kristoffer Kolltveit & Bjørn Erik Rasch. Oxford University Press.

Holmøyvik, Eirik. The Constitution. In: The Oxford Handbook of Norwegian Politics, edited by Elin. Haugsgjerd Allern, Målfrid Braut-Hegghammer, Kristoffer Kolltveit & Bjørn Erik Rasch. Oxford University Press.

Rasch, Bjørn Erik & Stein, Jonas. Executive-Legislative Relations: Negative parliamentarism and its consequences for governing Norway. In: The Oxford Handbook of Norwegian Politics, edited by Elin. Haugsgjerd Allern, Målfrid Braut-Hegghammer, Kristoffer Kolltveit & Bjørn Erik Rasch. Oxford University Press.

Working papers

Askim, Jostein & Lene Holm Pedersen. Elite Sense-making in the Core Executive: The Case of Denmark's 2020 Minkgate Scandal. (ECPR 2023) Askim, Jostein, Forum, Bjørn Mo & Mangset, Marte. Restraining Politics: Norms Governing Patronage Appointments in Norway, 1945-2023. (NOPSA 2024).

Askim, Jostein, Kristoffer Kolltveit, Hilmar Rommetvedt & Jon Bøe Valgermo. Opposition in Government. Opinion Polls, Electoral Cycles, and the Partisan Distinctiveness Behaviour of Governing Parties. (ECPR 2024).

Forum, Bjørn Mo & Hesstvedt, Stine. Partisan Appointees to Government Commissions in Norway 1972-2018. (ECPR 2024).

Forum, Bjørn Mo. Bureaucratic Turnover Under New Governments: The moderating effects of organizational buffering. (ECPR 2023).

Rasch, Bjørn Erik, Bjørn Mo Forum & Cristina Bucur. Portfolio Allocation in Parliamentary Governments. (ECPR 2023).

Op-eds

Norske statsråder er ikke akkurat en kunnskapselite. Aftenposten 29.1.2024 https://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/debatt/i/GMkprV/relativt-lavt-utdanningsnivaa-norske-statsraader-er-ikke-en-kunnskapselite

Hvem skal kongen ringe om Støre må gå? VG, 29.9.2023 https://www.vg.no/nyheter/meninger/i/dw1jlj/hvem-skal-kongen-ringe-om-stoere-maa-gaa

Syndefallet til statsrådane. Dag og Tid 4.8.2023. https://dagogtid.no/sidene-23/kommentar/syndefallet-til-statsradane-6.121.30143.585575e1c1

Hypotetisk mistillit. Dag og Tid. 10.11.2023. https://dagogtid.no/samfunn/kommentar/hypotetisk-mistillit-6.121.31670.09cbde6b31

Hvem er tjent med at Stoltenberg blir sentralbanksjef? Aftenposten 13.1.2022 https://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/kronikk/i/1OwgaM/hvem-er-tjent-med-at-stoltenberg-blir-sentralbanksjef

Mangset, Marte (2025). Representativitet blant norske regjeringsmedlemmer mellom 1945 og 2023: i spenning mellom forventning om likhet og forventning om kompetanse. Norsk statsvitenskapelig tidsskrift. ISSN 0801-1745. 41(3), p. 134–144. doi: 10.18261/nst.41.3.6. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Med utgangspunkt i forskningen gjort innenfor rammene av prosjektet POLITEX og publisert i boken «Regjeringen. Historien, makten og hverdagen» (Askim m.fl., 2024), peker jeg på to funn som kan sies å stå i et spenningsforhold til hverandre: På den ene siden har norske statsråder blitt stadig likere befolkningen langs noen dimensjoner, som med hensyn til utdanning og kjønn. På den andre er statsrådene blitt stadig mindre like befolkningen når det gjelder forankring i et ordinært arbeidsliv utenfor politikken. En betydelig og økende andel statsråder er yrkespolitikere, og har dermed trolig mer politisk kompetanse, samtidig som de har liten arbeidserfaring utenfor politikken, noe som også kan bety at de har mindre kompetanse av noen andre typer. Jeg diskuterer hva dette forteller oss om hvordan norske statsråder representerer befolkningen og med hva slags kompetanse.
Askim, Jostein; Bach, Tobias & Christensen, Jørgen Grønnegård (2025). Quiet politicization in Northern Europe. In Peters, B. Guy; Knox, Colin; Francisco, Panizza; Larraburu, Conrado Ramos & Staroňová, Katarína (Ed.), Handbook of Politicization and Political Patronage. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISSN 9781035326235. p. 114–128. doi: 10.4337/9781035326242.00014. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The chapter covers countries in the Nordic administrative tradition, highlighting features relevant to political–bureaucratic relationships, specifically these countries’ non-politicization conventions. The chapter discusses if and how current international trends in politics and administration may affect politicization in the Nordic countries. Next, existing research from the Nordic countries is reviewed, specifically regarding the number and role of political staff; the appointment and retention of ministerial top civil servants and heads of government agencies; and ministerial top civil servants’ working relations with their ministers, including their provision of political-tactical advice. In conclusion, the chapter discusses the magnitude, form, and consequences of “quiet” politicization in Nordic bureaucracies, considering their shared administrative tradition and the subtle but important institutional differences within it, notably a distinction between pure and hybrid meritocracies. The chapter highlights that by incorporating studies of meritocratic contexts, politicization scholarship can unpick the mechanisms that enable political-administrative systems to sustain merit-based bureaucracies.
Bach, Tobias; Forum, Bjørn Mo & Hesstvedt, Stine (2025). Norway: formal and informal politicization in a merit bureaucracy. In Peters, B. Guy; Knox, Colin; Francisco, Panizza; Larraburu, Conrado Ramos & Staroňová, Katarína (Ed.), Handbook of Politicization and Political Patronage. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISSN 9781035326235. p. 78–96. doi: 10.4337/9781035326242.00012. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The chapter focuses on formal and informal politicization in Norway, particularly examining positions within the state administration for which the cabinet or ministers have the power to make appointments. Additionally, it investigates the selection process for expert commissions, which play a significant role in policy development. We show that the civil service in Norway has experienced a gradual increase in formal politicization, as evidenced by the growing number of political appointees. However, informal politicization is largely absent, except for the appointment of former ministers to the position of county governors. The chapter also shows that civil servants are functionally politicized and face dilemmas between political responsiveness and other civil service values. Finally, the chapter demonstrates that the merit-based civil service was able to accommodate a populist party in government.
Pedersen, Lene Holm & Askim, Jostein (2024). Elite sense-making in the core executive: the case of Denmark’s 2020 Minkgate Scandal. Perspectives on Public Management and Governance. ISSN 2398-4910. 7(4), p. 149–160. doi: 10.1093/ppmgov/gvae009. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This article analyzes the Danish Mink Scandal of 2020 using Karl Weick’s sense-making theory. It zooms in on the 72-hour decision-making process that led to the culling of Denmark’s entire 17 million farmed-for-fur mink population in response to the perceived threat of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) forming a new mutation. Since there was insufficient legal justification for the culling, the prime minister was forced to call a snap general election, leading to a change of government. We exploit detailed data material containing text messages, e-mail correspondence, documentary material, and specific inquiries. The article demonstrates the strength of Weick’s social–psychological perspective on sense-making for public management research. It shows how time pressure can cut across heavily institutionalized standard operating procedures. It can increase the centralization of the decision-making power at the apex and decouple the formal legal responsibilities, which remain institutionalized with the line ministries. The study argues that sense-making offers learning points that cannot be obtained from formal legal perspectives, which are used to assign responsibilities. Indeed, ex-post thinking may be too convenient—traditional solutions like punishing leaders or agencies may obscure the discovery of more systemic vulnerabilities when crises unfold.
Askim, Jostein; Forum, Bjørn Mo & Tranøy, Bent Sofus (2024). The party politics of policy endurance: parliamentary settlements in Norway, 1980-2021. In Lucas, Patrick; Nabatchi, Tina; O’Flynn, Janine & Hart, Paul ’t (Ed.), Pathways to Positive Public Administration. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISSN 9781803929163. p. 400–423. doi: 10.4337/9781803929170.00034. Full text in Research Archive
Askim, Jostein; Bach, Tobias & Kolltveit, Kristoffer (2024). The professional profile, competence, and responsiveness of senior bureaucrats: a paired survey experiment with citizens and elite respondents. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory (JPART). ISSN 1053-1858. 35(1), p. 87–101. doi: 10.1093/jopart/muae024. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
How do the professional backgrounds of senior bureaucrats affect their competence and political responsiveness? This article fills a gap by examining these questions in a meritocratic context that accommodates nuanced but potentially consequential variations in the recruitment of senior bureaucrats. Using a paired survey experiment with citizens, representatives, and administrators in Norway, the article demonstrates that agency heads are perceived as less competent and—to a lesser extent—more politically responsive if their profile deviates from the meritocratic ideal of the career civil servant with mission-specific expertise. The article also compares perceptions between groups of stakeholders, filling another gap in the literature. Treatment effects go in the same direction across groups, but the results reveal a mismatch between popular and insider perceptions of bureaucracy: whereas citizens are practically indifferent, administrators are deeply concerned about the competence of an agency head who is a former politician rather than a career bureaucrat. Perceptions of substantive expertise are more aligned: all stakeholder groups view agency heads with mission-specific expertise as more competent and less politically responsive than generalists. Overall, the results demonstrate that variations in who is recruited to senior bureaucrat positions may either strengthen or undermine stakeholders’ views on good governance.
Askim, Jostein; Kolltveit, Kristoffer & Smith, Eivind (2023). Ministerial advisers in the Scandinavian tradition. In Shaw, Richard (Eds.), Handbook on Ministerial and Political Advisers. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISSN 9781800886575. p. 251–265. doi: 10.4337/9781800886582.00027. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The Scandinavian countries share numerous characteristics: constitutional monarchy, parliamentary government, proportional representation electoral systems, and frequent coalition governments. When it comes to ministerial advisers, however, the differences are more striking than the similarities. Denmark has a small and functionally weak ministerial adviser cohort, while Norway and, especially, Sweden have many and strong ministerial advisers. This chapter argues that Scandinavian ministerial advisers - their numbers, location, roles, and competencies - can be seen as defensive mechanisms used to help senior politicians and bureaucrats avoid having to change much over time. The chapter compares the Scandinavian countries with an emphasis on inter-departmental coordination and coordination between politicians and bureaucrats. Empirically, the chapter rests on a study of constitutions, statutes, internal government regulations, and 21 elite interviews.
Bjerkaas, Sunniva & Kolltveit, Kristoffer (2023). Statsministerens kontor: Kommunikasjonens høyborg i et moderne medielandskap? Norsk statsvitenskapelig tidsskrift. ISSN 0801-1745. 39(2), p. 56–73. doi: 10.18261/nst.39.2.1. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Denne artikkelen omhandler regjeringens strategiske kommunikasjonsarbeid, nærmere bestemt Statsministerens kontors (SMK) rolle i dette arbeidet, og hvordan rollen påvirkes av teknologisk utvikling og politisk kontekst. Artikkelen baserer seg på intervjuer med 10 elitekilder som alle har vært tett på prosessene som studeres. Vi finner at SMK har styrket sin kommunikasjonskapasitet over tid, og i viktige, politiske saker er sterkt involvert i regjeringens strategiske kommunikasjonsarbeid. Fagdepartementene har ellers høy grad av selvstendighet i håndteringen av mer ordinære saker på sine fagfelt. SMKs rolle er spesielt viktig i koalisjonsregjeringer hvor kontoret er sentralt i å holde laget samlet. Artikkelen gir unik innsikt om en viktig institusjon som er lite studert i norsk statsvitenskap, og bidrar til den internasjonale diskusjonen om sentralisering ved å vise at strategisk kommunikasjonsarbeid er dynamisk og involvering varierer avhengig av sak.
Askim, Jostein & Christensen, Tom (2022). Crisis decision-making inside the core executive: Rationality, bureaucratic politics, standard procedures and the COVID-19 lockdown. Public Policy and Administration. ISSN 0952-0767. 40(1), p. 151–169. doi: 10.1177/09520767221129676. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The article explains how the unprecedented pandemic management decision to lock down the country came about, using the case of Norway and drawing on unique interview material from political and administrative executives. Urgency and precaution were the government’s primary considerations in March 2020, with proportionality and due process only peripheral decision premises. Voices of moderation were drowned out at critical moments to pave the way for a lockdown. Moreover, Norway’s lockdown decision lacked distinct and official agency, with none of the key actors able to say precisely when, where and by whom this decision of unprecedented size and scope had been taken. An interpretation using Graham Allison’s analytical models shows that the rational policy model most accurately captures the case. The suggested implication is that when senior political executives take active control of an ultra-high-stakes process, decisions are unlikely to be the product of political resultants or organisational output.
Askim, Jostein & Karlsson, Bendik Rød (2022). Koalisjonskontroll i praksis, fra regjeringen Lyng til regjeringen Solberg (1963-2021). Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning (TfS). ISSN 0040-716X. 63(1), p. 5–25. doi: 10.18261/issn.1504-291x-2022-01-01. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Artikkelen studerer instrumenter for koalisjonskontroll i Norge, saerlig regjeringsavtaler og partikryssende statssekretaerer. Den spør hvordan bruken av disse instrumentene har utviklet seg mellom 1963 og 2020, og bruker blant annet regjeringsavtaler, forhandlingsprotokoller fra regjeringsforhandlinger, politiske biografier og intervjuer med tidligere regjeringspolitikere som datagrunnlag. Artikkelen finner at utviklingen i hovedsak er uavhengig av type regjering: Regjeringsavtalene blir lengre og lengre, og partikryssende statssekretaerer utplasseres i stadig flere departementer. Regjeringsavtaler er svaert viktige styrende dokumenter for koalisjonsregjeringene, som i andre europeiske land. Enkelte regjeringer, som Willoch II, har satt presedens for senere regjeringer. Videre har store og små partier i en regjering noe forskjellige preferanser: De store vil ha overordnede og generelle regjeringsavtaler, mens de mindre partiene vet at regjeringsavtalen er deres beste sjanse til å få gjennomslag for sine hjertesaker, og ønsker derfor detaljerte avtaler med tydelige løfter.
Askim, Jostein Rosfjord; Bach, Tobias & Christensen, Jørgen Grønnegård (2022). Political change and administrative turnover in meritocratic systems. West European Politics. ISSN 0140-2382. 47(2), p. 329–355. doi: 10.1080/01402382.2022.2148195. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
A change of government or minister constitutes a stress test for the relationship between ministers and bureaucrats. The new political masters may question the loyalty of incumbent bureaucrats and seek to replace them. However, the relationship between political changes and administrative turnover is poorly understood in meritocratic systems. This article analyses how changes of either government or minister affect the turnover of permanent secretaries in Denmark and Norway (1970–2020). Whereas ministers are completely reliant on career bureaucrats in pure meritocratic systems, they are supported by political appointees in hybrid meritocratic systems. The article investigates whether the effect of political changes on administrative turnover is mediated by the presence or absence of political appointees. Changes of government increase the risk of administrative turnover in Norway (hybrid system), but there are no such effects in Denmark (pure system), suggesting that political appointees potentially undermine the permanence of career bureaucrats.
Kolltveit, Kristoffer & Askim, Jostein (2022). The Norwegian Core Executive: Baronial Courts and Inner Circles? Core Executives in a Comparative Perspective: Governing in Complex Times. Palgrave Macmillan. ISSN 9783030945022. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-94503-9_11. Full text in Research Archive

View all works in NVA

Askim, Jostein; Flo, Yngve; Holmøyvik, Eirik; Kolltveit, Kristoffer; Mangset, Marte & Rasch, Bjørn Erik (2024). Regjeringen: Historien, makten og hverdagen. Fagbokforlaget. ISBN 9788245040296. Full text in Research Archive

View all works in NVA

Mangset, Marte; Weldehanna, Lisa & Askim, Jostein (2025). Is Norway caught up by revolving doors? A study of Norwegian ex-ministers’ careers between 1981 and 2021. Full text in Research Archive
Mangset, Marte; Weldehanna, Lisa & Askim, Jostein (2025). Subtle shifts in sectorial power and party affinities: Post-ministerial careers in Norway 1965-2021. Full text in Research Archive
Askim, Jostein & Pedersen, Lene Holm (2024). Elite Sense-making in the Core Executive: The Case of Denmark's 2020 Minkgate Scandal. Full text in Research Archive
Forum, Bjørn Mo & Hesstvedt, Stine (2024). Partisan Appointees to Government Commissions in Norway 1972-2018. Full text in Research Archive
Askim, Jostein; Kolltveit, Kristoffer; Rommetvedt, Hilmar & Valgermo, Jon Bøe (2024). Opposition in Government. Opinion Polls, Electoral Cycles, and the Partisan Distinctiveness Behaviour of Governing Parties. Full text in Research Archive
Forum, Bjørn Mo (2023). Bureaucratic Turnover Under New Governments: The moderating effects of organizational buffering. Full text in Research Archive
Rasch, Bjørn Erik; Forum, Bjørn Mo & Bucur, Christina (2023). Portfolio Allocation in Parliamentary Governments. Full text in Research Archive
Askim, Jostein; Rasch, Bjørn Erik; Flo, Yngve & Holmøyvik, Eirik (2023). Hvem skal kongen ringe om Støre må gå? Full text in Research Archive
Askim, Jostein Rosfjord & Bach, Tobias (2022). Hvem er tjent med at Stoltenberg blir sentralbanksjef? 163(14), p. 30–31. Full text in Research Archive

View all works in NVA

Funding

Project number: 325184

Collaborators

Project partners are University of Bergen and OsloMet.

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Published Nov. 22, 2024 9:55 AM - Last modified Apr. 9, 2026 1:19 PM