Politics of Iceland
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Political system of Iceland Íslensk stjórnmál ( Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson | |
---|---|
Appointer | Direct election |
Head of Government | |
Title | Prime Minister of Iceland |
Currently | Bjarni Benediktsson |
Cabinet | |
Name | Cabinet of Iceland |
Current cabinet | Bjarni Beneiktsson cabinet |
Leader | Prime Minister |
Headquarters | Reykjavík |
Ministries | 12 Ministries |
Judicial branch | |
Name | Judiciary of Iceland |
Supreme Court of Iceland | |
Chief judge | Benedikt Bogason |
Seat | Supreme Court Building |
Iceland portal |
The politics of Iceland take place in the framework of a
Executive branch
Office | Name | Party | Since |
---|---|---|---|
President | Guðni Th. Jóhannesson | Independent
|
1 August 2016 |
Prime Minister | Bjarni Benediktsson | Independence Party | 9 April 2024 |
Elected to a four-year term, the President has limited powers and is poised in a largely ceremonial office that serves as a diplomat and figurehead. On 1 August 2016, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson became the new president of Iceland. He was re-elected with an overwhelming majority of the vote in the 2020 presidential election.[3]
The prime minister and cabinet exercise most executive functions. The head of government is the prime minister, who, together with the cabinet, takes care of the executive part of government. The cabinet is appointed by the president after general elections to Althing; however, this process is usually conducted by the leaders of the political parties, who decide among themselves after discussions which parties can form the cabinet and how its seats are to be distributed (under the condition that it has majority support in Althing). Only when the party leaders are unable to reach a conclusion by themselves in reasonable time does the president exercise this power and appoint the cabinet themselves. This has never happened since the republic was founded in 1944, but in 1942 the regent of the country (Sveinn Björnsson, who had been installed in that position by the Althing in 1941) appointed a non-parliamentary government. The regent had, for all practical purposes, the position of a president, and Sveinn in fact became the country's first president in 1944. The governments of Iceland have almost always been coalitions with two or more parties involved because no single political party has received a majority of seats in the Althing during Iceland's republican period. The extent of the political powers possessed by the office of the president is disputed by legal scholars in Iceland; several provisions of the constitution appear to give the president some important powers but other provisions and traditions suggest differently.
The president is elected every four years (last 2020), the cabinet is elected every four years (last 2021) and town council elections are held every four years (last 2018).
Legislative branch
The modern parliament called "
Political parties and the elections
After four four-year terms as the world's first elected woman president, the widely popular Vigdís Finnbogadóttir chose not to run for re-election in 1996.[4] More than 86% of voters turned out in the June 29, 1996 presidential elections to give former leftist party chairman Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson a 41% plurality and relatively comfortable 12% victory margin over the closest of three other candidates. Traditionally limited to 6–12 weeks, Iceland's campaign season was marked by several intensely personal attacks on Ólafur Ragnar, a former finance minister who tried to erase memories of his controversial support of inflationary policies and opposition to the U.S. military presence at the NATO base in Keflavík. Ólafur Ragnar successfully used his largely ceremonial office to promote Icelandic trade abroad and family values at home. The last presidential elections took place on June 27, 2020.
The last parliamentary elections took place on September 25, 2021. A three-party coalition was formed following the 2017 parliamentary elections by the Independence Party (Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn), the Progressive Party (Framsóknarflokkurinn) and the Left-Green Movement (Vinstrihreyfingin – grænt framboð). These political parties were again the three largest in Iceland after the latest elections and subsequently continued the coalition for another term.[5] This was the first time since 2009 in which existing coalition is renewed in Iceland.[6] A total of 203,898 votes were cast consulting 80.1% of the 254,681 electorates.[7]
Political history
1990s
In losing four seats in April 1995 parliamentary elections, the IP and SDP (so-called Viðey government) mustered a simple majority in the 63-seat Althing. However, Prime Minister and IP leader Davíð Oddsson chose the resurgent Progressive Party (PP) as a more conservative partner to form a stronger and more stable majority with 40 seats. Splintered by factionalism over the economy and Iceland's role in the European Union (EU), the SDP also suffered from being the only party to support Iceland's EU membership application.
2000s - 2010s
The beginning of the millennium saw a merger of all the left parties to form the Social Democratic Alliance. Some members chose to join another new left party instead, the Left-Green Movement. After the PP's loss in the 2007 elections its longstanding alliance with the IP ended despite still being able to form a majority. Instead, the IP's leader Geir Haarde chose a stronger but somewhat unstable coalition with the Social Democrats (the Þingvellir government).
Geir's administration fell apart in January 2009 and he called for an early election before standing down as party leader. The Social Democrats subsequently formed an interim government with the LGM. In the resulting election, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir's administration prevailed, the first time Icelanders voted for a majority left-wing government.
After the 2008 financial crisis, there has been an increasing fractionalization of the Icelandic party system. The increase in the number of parties has made it harder for coalition governments to form.
2020s
After the 2021 parliamentary election, the new government was, just like the previous government, a tri-party coalition of the Independence Party, the Progressive Party and the Left-Green Movement, headed by Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir.[11]
Judicial branch
The judiciary consists of the Supreme Court (Hæstiréttur) and district courts. Justices are appointed for life by the minister of justice. The Constitution protects the judiciary from infringement by the other two branches.
Administrative divisions
Iceland is divided into 8 regions, which are further subdivided into 77 municipalities.
Until 1988, Iceland was divided in 23 counties (sýslur, singular sýsla) and 14 independent towns* (kaupstaðir, singular kaupstaður);
International organization participation
This section provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject.(February 2019) |
See also
- List of Icelandic ministries
- election history
- Icelandic constitutional reform, 2010–13
Further reading
- Baldur Thorhallsson (ed.). 2018. Small States and Shelter Theory: Iceland's External Affairs. Routledge.
- Baldur Thorhallsson (ed.). 2021. Iceland's Shelter-Seeking Behavior: From Settlement to Republic. Cornell University Library
- Gunnar Helgi Kristinsson. 2007. Íslenska stjórnkerfið. Háskólaútgáfan.
- Gunnar Helgi Kristinsson. 2021. Elítur og valdakerfi á Íslandi. Háskólaútgáfan.
- Hulda Thórisdóttir, Ólafur Th. Harðarson, Eva H. Önnudóttir, and Agnar Freyr Helgason. 2021. Electoral Politics in Crisis After the Great Recession: Change, Fluctuations and Stability in Iceland. Routledge.
References
- National Geographic. p. 85. Archived from the originalon 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
- ^ "Global democracy has a very bad year". The Economist. February 2, 2021. Archived from the original on February 2, 2021. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
- ^ "Guðni Th. Jóhannesson Reelected President". Iceland Monitor. 29 June 2020.
- .
- ^ "From Iceland — Iceland's New Government Announced". The Reykjavik Grapevine. 2021-11-28. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
- ^ Fernando Casal Bertoa. "Government coalition survives in Iceland – for the first time since the bank crash of 2008". Who Governs Europe. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
- ^ "Úrslit Alþingiskosninga 2021". mbl.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 2022-03-10.
- S2CID 158256950.
- .
- .
- ^ "New Government of Iceland Takes Office". Iceland Monitor. 29 November 2021.