Althingi´s Keeper: Changes in the Constitutional Powers of the President of Iceland
The article focuses on the constitutional role of the president of Iceland when the republic was established in 1944, and the evolution of this role during the time Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson has been in office. The study shows that the creation of a republic involved hardly any changes in the constitut...
Published in: | Veftímaritið Stjórnmál og stjórnsýsla |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English Icelandic |
Published: |
University of Iceland
2015
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2015.11.2.2 https://doaj.org/article/8a578a264fe84bd78f4588f213638aea |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:8a578a264fe84bd78f4588f213638aea |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:8a578a264fe84bd78f4588f213638aea 2023-05-15T16:48:21+02:00 Althingi´s Keeper: Changes in the Constitutional Powers of the President of Iceland Björg Thorarensen Stefanía Óskarsdóttir 2015-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2015.11.2.2 https://doaj.org/article/8a578a264fe84bd78f4588f213638aea EN IS eng ice University of Iceland http://www.irpa.is/article/view/2085 https://doaj.org/toc/1670-6803 https://doaj.org/toc/1670-679X 1670-6803 1670-679X doi:10.13177/irpa.a.2015.11.2.2 https://doaj.org/article/8a578a264fe84bd78f4588f213638aea Stjórnmál og Stjórnsýsla, Vol 11, Iss 2, Pp 139-160 (2015) Stjórnskipuleg staða forseta forsetaþingræði meðferð löggjafarvalds eftirlit með Alþingi Political institutions and public administration (General) JF20-2112 Political science (General) JA1-92 article 2015 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2015.11.2.2 2022-12-31T01:54:41Z The article focuses on the constitutional role of the president of Iceland when the republic was established in 1944, and the evolution of this role during the time Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson has been in office. The study shows that the creation of a republic involved hardly any changes in the constitutional role of the head of state neither in regard to executive nor legislative powers. Thus the authors reject the theory that the creation of a republic introduced a dual authority structure, consisting of Althingi and a powerful president, which characterizes semi-presidentialim. However, despite the fact that the text of the constitution, regarding the presidency, has not been changed since 1944, the political importance of the president has increased in recent years. This is mainly the result of Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson´s interpretation of the constitutional role of the president, as well as changes in public attitudes regarding democracy and the role of the president. According to this interpretation, the president acts as Althingi´s keeper who acts as a check on the majority rule of Althingi contrary to what was decided in 1944. The authors maintain that in the absence of formal constitutional changes, were the role of the presidency is better defined; the power of the president vis-à-vis the cabinet and parliament may continue to grow. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Veftímaritið Stjórnmál og stjórnsýsla 11 2 139 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English Icelandic |
topic |
Stjórnskipuleg staða forseta forsetaþingræði meðferð löggjafarvalds eftirlit með Alþingi Political institutions and public administration (General) JF20-2112 Political science (General) JA1-92 |
spellingShingle |
Stjórnskipuleg staða forseta forsetaþingræði meðferð löggjafarvalds eftirlit með Alþingi Political institutions and public administration (General) JF20-2112 Political science (General) JA1-92 Björg Thorarensen Stefanía Óskarsdóttir Althingi´s Keeper: Changes in the Constitutional Powers of the President of Iceland |
topic_facet |
Stjórnskipuleg staða forseta forsetaþingræði meðferð löggjafarvalds eftirlit með Alþingi Political institutions and public administration (General) JF20-2112 Political science (General) JA1-92 |
description |
The article focuses on the constitutional role of the president of Iceland when the republic was established in 1944, and the evolution of this role during the time Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson has been in office. The study shows that the creation of a republic involved hardly any changes in the constitutional role of the head of state neither in regard to executive nor legislative powers. Thus the authors reject the theory that the creation of a republic introduced a dual authority structure, consisting of Althingi and a powerful president, which characterizes semi-presidentialim. However, despite the fact that the text of the constitution, regarding the presidency, has not been changed since 1944, the political importance of the president has increased in recent years. This is mainly the result of Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson´s interpretation of the constitutional role of the president, as well as changes in public attitudes regarding democracy and the role of the president. According to this interpretation, the president acts as Althingi´s keeper who acts as a check on the majority rule of Althingi contrary to what was decided in 1944. The authors maintain that in the absence of formal constitutional changes, were the role of the presidency is better defined; the power of the president vis-à-vis the cabinet and parliament may continue to grow. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Björg Thorarensen Stefanía Óskarsdóttir |
author_facet |
Björg Thorarensen Stefanía Óskarsdóttir |
author_sort |
Björg Thorarensen |
title |
Althingi´s Keeper: Changes in the Constitutional Powers of the President of Iceland |
title_short |
Althingi´s Keeper: Changes in the Constitutional Powers of the President of Iceland |
title_full |
Althingi´s Keeper: Changes in the Constitutional Powers of the President of Iceland |
title_fullStr |
Althingi´s Keeper: Changes in the Constitutional Powers of the President of Iceland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Althingi´s Keeper: Changes in the Constitutional Powers of the President of Iceland |
title_sort |
althingi´s keeper: changes in the constitutional powers of the president of iceland |
publisher |
University of Iceland |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2015.11.2.2 https://doaj.org/article/8a578a264fe84bd78f4588f213638aea |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_source |
Stjórnmál og Stjórnsýsla, Vol 11, Iss 2, Pp 139-160 (2015) |
op_relation |
http://www.irpa.is/article/view/2085 https://doaj.org/toc/1670-6803 https://doaj.org/toc/1670-679X 1670-6803 1670-679X doi:10.13177/irpa.a.2015.11.2.2 https://doaj.org/article/8a578a264fe84bd78f4588f213638aea |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2015.11.2.2 |
container_title |
Veftímaritið Stjórnmál og stjórnsýsla |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
139 |
_version_ |
1766038449612128256 |