The origins and provisional nature of Iceland's 1944 constitution
The article looks at the origins of the 1944 constitution of Iceland, when the country declared its full independence from Denmark. It focuses on the years of the Second World War and places special emphasis on the constraints which members of parliament imposed on themselves in changing the constit...
Published in: | Icelandic Review of Politics & Administration |
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Language: | Icelandic |
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Stjórnsýslustofnun
2011
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Online Access: | http://www.irpa.is/article/view/a.2011.7.1.4 https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2011.7.1.4 |
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fticelandunivojs:oai:ojs.hi.is:article/1116 2023-05-15T16:49:12+02:00 The origins and provisional nature of Iceland's 1944 constitution Tjaldað til einnar nætur: Uppruni bráðabirgðastjórnarskrárinnar Jóhannesson, Guðni Th. 2011-06-15 application/pdf http://www.irpa.is/article/view/a.2011.7.1.4 https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2011.7.1.4 isl ice Stjórnsýslustofnun http://www.irpa.is/article/view/a.2011.7.1.4/pdf_209 http://www.irpa.is/article/view/a.2011.7.1.4 doi:10.13177/irpa.a.2011.7.1.4 Icelandic Review of Politics & Administration; Árg. 7, Nr 1 (2011); 61-72 Stjórnmál og stjórnsýsla; Árg. 7, Nr 1 (2011); 61-72 1670-679X 1670-6803 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Peer-reviewed Article 2011 fticelandunivojs https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2011.7.1.4 2022-09-21T13:39:02Z The article looks at the origins of the 1944 constitution of Iceland, when the country declared its full independence from Denmark. It focuses on the years of the Second World War and places special emphasis on the constraints which members of parliament imposed on themselves in changing the constitution. Primarily, the leaders of the political parties in parliament were convinced that unless they agreed to change the constitution as little as possible,fierce quarrels would arise within parliament and amongst the public. That, however, had to be avoided since it was of vital importance that the outside world would see a nation united in its desire for full independence. Consequently, most MPs and others involved in the writing of the new constitution agreed that it would be a temporary measure. As soon as it had been ratified, however, work could begin on its revision. The conclusion is that in later debates in Iceland about the constitution, this crucial element has sometimes been overlooked or downplayed. Í greininni er tilurð lýðveldisstjórnarskrárinnar frá 1944 rakin. Mest áhersla er lögð á ár seinni heimsstyrjaldar og þær skorður sem alþingismenn settu sér við gerð nýrrar stjórnarskrár fyrir lýðveldið Ísland. Rakið verður að leiðtogar stjórnmálaflokka á Alþingi þóttust sjá að kæmu þeir sér ekki saman um að gera sem minnstar breytingar á stjórnarskránni að sinni blossaði upp ófriður innan þings sem utan. En það mætti ekki verða því mest á riði, bæði fyrir Íslendinga sjálfa og ekki síður valdhafa annarra ríkja sem skyldu viðurkenna hið nýja lýðveldi, að þjóðin virtist einhuga á lokaspretti sjálfstæðisbaráttunnar. Þess vegna voru flestir þingmenn og aðrir, sem komu að gerð hinnar nýju stjórnarskrár, sammála um að hún væri aðeins samin til bráðabirgða. Um leið og lýst hefði verið yfir sjálfstæði skyldi gagnger endurskoðun stjórnarskrárinnar hins vegar hefjast. Í greininni er því haldið fram að í seinni umræðum um stjórnarskrána hætti mönnum til að gleyma eða gera lítið úr þessu grundvallaratriði. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland University of Iceland: Peer Reviewed Journals Icelandic Review of Politics & Administration 7 1 61 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Iceland: Peer Reviewed Journals |
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fticelandunivojs |
language |
Icelandic |
description |
The article looks at the origins of the 1944 constitution of Iceland, when the country declared its full independence from Denmark. It focuses on the years of the Second World War and places special emphasis on the constraints which members of parliament imposed on themselves in changing the constitution. Primarily, the leaders of the political parties in parliament were convinced that unless they agreed to change the constitution as little as possible,fierce quarrels would arise within parliament and amongst the public. That, however, had to be avoided since it was of vital importance that the outside world would see a nation united in its desire for full independence. Consequently, most MPs and others involved in the writing of the new constitution agreed that it would be a temporary measure. As soon as it had been ratified, however, work could begin on its revision. The conclusion is that in later debates in Iceland about the constitution, this crucial element has sometimes been overlooked or downplayed. Í greininni er tilurð lýðveldisstjórnarskrárinnar frá 1944 rakin. Mest áhersla er lögð á ár seinni heimsstyrjaldar og þær skorður sem alþingismenn settu sér við gerð nýrrar stjórnarskrár fyrir lýðveldið Ísland. Rakið verður að leiðtogar stjórnmálaflokka á Alþingi þóttust sjá að kæmu þeir sér ekki saman um að gera sem minnstar breytingar á stjórnarskránni að sinni blossaði upp ófriður innan þings sem utan. En það mætti ekki verða því mest á riði, bæði fyrir Íslendinga sjálfa og ekki síður valdhafa annarra ríkja sem skyldu viðurkenna hið nýja lýðveldi, að þjóðin virtist einhuga á lokaspretti sjálfstæðisbaráttunnar. Þess vegna voru flestir þingmenn og aðrir, sem komu að gerð hinnar nýju stjórnarskrár, sammála um að hún væri aðeins samin til bráðabirgða. Um leið og lýst hefði verið yfir sjálfstæði skyldi gagnger endurskoðun stjórnarskrárinnar hins vegar hefjast. Í greininni er því haldið fram að í seinni umræðum um stjórnarskrána hætti mönnum til að gleyma eða gera lítið úr þessu grundvallaratriði. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jóhannesson, Guðni Th. |
spellingShingle |
Jóhannesson, Guðni Th. The origins and provisional nature of Iceland's 1944 constitution |
author_facet |
Jóhannesson, Guðni Th. |
author_sort |
Jóhannesson, Guðni Th. |
title |
The origins and provisional nature of Iceland's 1944 constitution |
title_short |
The origins and provisional nature of Iceland's 1944 constitution |
title_full |
The origins and provisional nature of Iceland's 1944 constitution |
title_fullStr |
The origins and provisional nature of Iceland's 1944 constitution |
title_full_unstemmed |
The origins and provisional nature of Iceland's 1944 constitution |
title_sort |
origins and provisional nature of iceland's 1944 constitution |
publisher |
Stjórnsýslustofnun |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
http://www.irpa.is/article/view/a.2011.7.1.4 https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2011.7.1.4 |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_source |
Icelandic Review of Politics & Administration; Árg. 7, Nr 1 (2011); 61-72 Stjórnmál og stjórnsýsla; Árg. 7, Nr 1 (2011); 61-72 1670-679X 1670-6803 |
op_relation |
http://www.irpa.is/article/view/a.2011.7.1.4/pdf_209 http://www.irpa.is/article/view/a.2011.7.1.4 doi:10.13177/irpa.a.2011.7.1.4 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2011.7.1.4 |
container_title |
Icelandic Review of Politics & Administration |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
61 |
_version_ |
1766039341591691264 |