Then there is the secondary point: not every political party exists to take power, per se.
There are other things that can be gained even as a minority, so long as you're not in a one- or two-party system.
Conversation
Replying to
Yeah, in theory, although I suspect you have to narrow down your activism (as it effectively becomes) to a relatively small range of key points - eg the Greens on Climate Change (and opposing may of the things that could help, such as nuclear power and GM crops, but I digress).
1
Replying to
You're forgetting the other side of the coin is that politicians are generally underpaid & often incompetent.
If you can secure enough influence to protect the right interests, your bread can be buttered for a long time. It can be as minor as securing a certain contract for sbdy
2
1
As for activism, well, yes. But it's something that has worked extremely well for Norwegian political parties, historically speaking.
With govts commonly holding a parliamentary minority, it's actually fairly easy to undercut them on key votes (thus securing outsize influence).
1
Replying to
In some ways that does sound like a better situation, but does it lead to deadlock?
1
Replying to
There is a parliamentary mechanism, a vote of confidence, where the cabinet calls a vote on an issue. If they lose the vote, they disband the cabinet.
It's a way to stop minor parties bullying too much when they have the deciding vote, and also helps remove weak governments.
2
Replying to
Interesting... so does policy generally flow through with reasonable expedience? Or are there periods of only risk-averse policy-making?
1
Replying to
That strongly depends on the motivations of parliament, but it's generally not a good idea to advertise your indecisiveness while in power...
That said, Norwegian culture is generally quite risk-averse, so most policy-making until recently has reflected that.
1
However, despite a bunch of cool parliamentary mechanisms, there is also some bullshit.
Coalitions are made at the discretion of the constituent parties, so you can gain a "majority" by combining three or four parties.
2
Replying to
Not always. But every major party took fairly major hits when the social democrats moved right on a number of contentious issues.
Overall the redistribution favored the right (why vote Labour if they won't act the part, and also the zeitgeist), so they formed a megacoalition.