Norway: Public Debate and the Management of Petroleum Resources and Revenues

In Indra Overland (ed.) Public Brainpower: Civil Society and Natural Resource Management, Cham: Palgrave, pp. 217–245, Forthcoming

29 Pages Posted: 12 Dec 2017

See all articles by Nina Poussenkova

Nina Poussenkova

Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) - Institute of World Economy and International Relations

Indra Overland

NUPI - Norwegian Institute of International Affairs; NUPI - Norwegian Institute for International Affairs

Date Written: 2017

Abstract

This chapter assesses the importance of civil society involvement and public debate for Norwegian petroleum governance. It finds that during the early years of the country’s oil and gas development most important choices were made by a small number of decision-makers in government with little input from the broader society. The attitude of government officials was therefore decisive for Norway’s early successes. During the two first decades of Norway’s petroleum era, also economists at the Ministry of Finance, the Norwegian School of Economics, Statistics Norway and the University of Oslo played important roles. One of the greatest successes of Norwegian oil and gas governance, the sovereign wealth fund, was created by technocrats in interaction with politicians. However, over time, and in a way similar to the Netherlands, civil society and public debate came to play more influential roles. What characterizes contemporary Norwegian petroleum governance is that it has many legs to stand on: an active and diverse civil society, free and diverse media, many political parties representing differing interests, numerous institutions of research and higher education and, importantly, a strong technocracy inside and outside government. In combination, these legs provide for both reliability and dynamism, as Norwegian petroleum governance is constantly evolving. Finally, a key aspect of Norway’s Nordic model is constant compromise – which is difficult to achieve in more polarized societies.

Suggested Citation

Poussenkova, Nina and Overland, Indra, Norway: Public Debate and the Management of Petroleum Resources and Revenues (2017). In Indra Overland (ed.) Public Brainpower: Civil Society and Natural Resource Management, Cham: Palgrave, pp. 217–245, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3084289

Nina Poussenkova

Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) - Institute of World Economy and International Relations ( email )

Profsouznaya St., 23
Moscow GSP-7, 117997
Russia

Indra Overland (Contact Author)

NUPI - Norwegian Institute of International Affairs ( email )

Oslo
Norway

NUPI - Norwegian Institute for International Affairs ( email )

Oslo
Norway

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