Interparty Spatial Relationships in Norwegian Storting Roll Call Votes*

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to map interparty spatial relationships embedded in non‐unanimous roll call votes recorded during the 1985–86 session of the Norwegian parliament. The analysis is theoretically grounded in the one‐dimensional Scandinavian five‐party model and a two‐dimensional model which assumes that the conventional left–right continuum is intersected by an urban protest/rural traditionalism axis. While the one‐dimensional solution which arrays the parties along the conventional left–right continuum is statistically defensible, a two‐dimensional solution appears better to reflect the reality of contemporary Norwegian politics in which the post‐Second World War welfare‐state consensus is being challenged by the Progressive Party. The resulting divisions among the non‐socialist parties may preclude a stable center‐right governing coalition.