From: Development Today
If you want to understand Norwegian foreign policy, Development Today is an absolute must. The journal asks some of the right questions and picks up on issues that Akersgata is unable to attend to. In No.16/2009 (above) DT observes that Labour is assuming control of a larger proportion of the development aid budget, leaving Development Minster Erik Solheim (Socialist Left) with only 60% of it. Furthermore it is pointed out how Norway previously has spoken with two different voices concerning relations with Hamas. If Norway wants to normalize relations with Tel Aviv, we need to sort this out.
In one sense the reallocation of budgetary control seems appropriate. The Socialist Left did not do very well at the recent election, and in a sense it is appropriate that financial power is proportionate to political power. On the other hand, Labour has traditionally been so powerful that Norway’s most prominent political historian Jens Arup Seip in the sixties claimed that Norway was virtually a one-party state (He wrote an essay on the subject under the title: Norway, a one-party state).
The public sector in Norway is huge, and looks set to grow. Meanwhile, Norwegian NGOs are also financed by the state, leading BI academic Asle Toje to call them quango’s – quasi NGOs, not really independent of the government which finances them. These are not conditions which favor the opposition.
[...] rest is here: DT reports: Labour strengthens grip on aid budget Share [...]