Writing Democracy: The Norwegian Constitution 1814–2014 ed. by Karen Gammelgaard and Eirik Holmøyvik (review)

Writing Democracy is an interdisciplinary work in which authors from such diverse disciplines as legal studies, history, linguistics, sociology, history of concepts, and literary studies consider the Norwegian Constitution as a text. The volume investigates textual practices that preceded and accompanied the Norwegian Constitution’s framing in 1814, and its amendments, supplements, and interpretation during the following two hundred years. The combined twelve chapters, placed in four sections, examine the textual qualities of this particular constitutional document, illustrate new ways to analyze democratic advancement, and place the Constitution in an international and historical context.

The Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway (Kongeriget Norges Grundlov, 1814), its official name, is the second oldest constitution in the world still in force, after the US Constitution, created in 1787. Historical and political events leading to the Norwegian Constitution must first be briefly considered. From 1380 to 1814 Norway was a part of the authoritarian twin kingdoms of Denmark-Norway. Denmark-Norway sided with Napoleon and suffered defeat to the allied powers. Sweden was among the victors, and in the peace settlement with Sweden in the Treaty of Kiel, Norway would, under the monarchical principle, enter into a union with Sweden under the Swedish king. Danish Crown Prince Christian Frederik, who had been sent to Norway as a viceroy, served as the figurehead of Norwegian resistance to the Treaty of Kiel. The most decisive and cogent event was the Constitutional Assembly at Eidsvoll, north of Christiania (Oslo). On 10 April 1814, 112 popularly elected delegates met at a national assembly there.

The main task of the delegates as they framed the Constitution, was “to put down on paper — in words, sentences, and paragraphs — ideas of the foundations of government and the protection of human rights in Norway” (3). The Constitution was first written in longhand, then the document was published in print in Danish, the joint written standard of both Norway and Denmark at the time, to give all of Norway’s largely literate inhabitants access. The original Constitution and the first official English translation are reproduced. Norwegians have considered the adoption of the Constitution a decisive point in the growth of Norwegian democracy. On 17 May, the delegates, in addition to signing the Constitution, declared Norway’s independence and elected Christian Frederik king.

Crown Prince Carl Johan, the real ruler of Sweden, was, however, intent on quelling resistance and securing the throne of Norway according to the Treaty of Kiel. Conquest, with an invasion of Swedish troops into Norway, failed, and led to negotiations with the elected Norwegian Parliament, the Storting (Grand Assembly), established in the Constitution. Christian Frederik stepped down and the Storting revised the Constitution to allow a formal dynastic union with Sweden. On 4 November 1814, the elderly King Carl XIII of Sweden was elected to the Norwegian throne. Norway secured its political autonomy. The link to Sweden lasted ninety years.

A brief review cannot do justice to the twelve well-written, nuanced, and complex individual chapters contained in the study. Professor of Law Eirik Holmøyvik discusses the changing concept of “constitution,” and concludes that its modern understanding in politics and law, and most specifically constitutional law, dates from the late eighteenth century. The Norwegian Constitution of 1814, as shown in the constitutional text and drafts, took on “its modern and legal meaning, referring to a specific set of legal rules that define and limit the government” (53). The separation of powers is given by Holmøyvik as the prime example of the concept of “constitution” itself.

In chapter four, in the second section, which looks at the Norwegian Constitution in transnational conversations, Ulrich Schmid, professor of Russian culture and society at the University of Gallen, Switzerland, considers the American, French, Spanish, Polish, and several Swiss constitutions, and concludes that “constitutions create authority by using the rhetoric of a collective ‘we”’ (90).

In chapter nine, in...