The history of the Icelandic government, also known as Alþingi (pronounced “Althingi”), dates back to the 900s. This episode breaks down the evolution of the government in this country from the very beginning to present day.

The World’s Oldest Surviving Parliament

In previous episodes, I have mentioned the Alþingi, which is the the Icelandic parliament. It was founded in 930 at Þingvellir, which is now part of the Golden Circle and is one of the most historically important sites in the country. Iceland claims that the Althingi is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. Because of the history and unique geology in the area, Þingvellir became a National Park on the 1000th year anniversary of the Althingi in 1930. In 2004, the site was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Because most of the settlers in Iceland during the 900s were Norwegian, their heritage greatly influenced the creation of their government. It seems that their main goal was to avoid a centralized authority or King, especially since that is what some of them had fled. Additionally, they wanted to integrate the Norwegian tradition of laws and legal assemblies (aka Þing). This resulted in Iceland forming a unique government.

Þingvellir – Once The Gathering Place of the Alþingi

The gathering of Parliament members in Iceland from 930 to 1800 was an open air assembly on the plains of Þingvellir. While all free men could attend the assemblies, it was Iceland’s most powerful leaders, known as goðar or chieftains, that decided on legislation and providing justice for any law related claims brought before them. While legislation was top of mind during these assemblies, they were also the main social event of the year. Farmers, craftsmen, travelers, storytellers, traders, and the families of many of these people attended. Temporary camps, called búðir, were set up in Þingvellir for these assembly events.

The Icelandic Law Rock & Law Speaker

Lögberg, which translates to Law Rock, was the center of the assembly gatherings. An interesting fact is that the exact location of the lögberg is unknown today. You might be thinking, how is that possible? It is not as if this huge rock just moved. But in reality, that might have happened. Some of you that have visited Þingvellir or have heard about it on this show, are aware that this is one of the areas in Iceland where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates are slowly shifting a part by 2cm each year. This area is known as a rift valley. Over the more than 1000 years of shifts in the geography have made it difficult to pinpoint exactly where the Lögberg was located. There are two possible locations but this will remain a mystery until someone is able to prove it.

The lögsögumaður or lawspeaker had a seat on the Law Rock and this person was the official of the assembly. The assemblies were called to order and dissolved at the Law Rock. The lawspeaker, 39 Cheiftains that had their own districts and nine other members made up the Lögrétta, which was the legislative part of the assembly. Not surprisingly, this section of the Althingi was very powerful. They adopted new laws, dealt with legal conflicts, and granted exemptions to existing laws.

The Althingi of the past also had a judicial function that listened to legal disputes. As the parliament evolved, judges were appointed by the chieftains in the Lögrétta (Court of Legislature).

From Commonwealth to Being Ruled by A Monarch

When the Althingi was formed, Iceland was set up as a commonwealth or a free state. In 1262, that came to an end because Icelanders submitted to the authority of  Haakon IV, King of Norway. This happened under the terms of the gamli sáttmáli or Old Covenant. Like you, I wondered why would Icelanders give up their free state to be ruled by a monarch, so I dug a little deeper to find out. Before the signing of the covenant, there were civil disputes happening in the country.

For about 44 years in the 13th century a family called the Sturlungs were one of the powerful families causing wars and violent conflicts among Chieftains. The main reason this was happening was because behind the scenes, the Norwegian King was trying to exert his influence through Icelandic family clans. The Sturlungs and Gissur Þorvaldsson were essentially agents of the Norwegian monarch and they were wreaking havoc on Icelandic society. This time period came to be known as the Age of the Sturlungs. The tales are so epic that a saga called the Sturlunga Saga was written. The end of this treacherous age happened when the Old Covenant was signed. Iceland thus became unified with Norway.

Under the Old Covenant, goðars no longer ruled the country and all of the executive power was shifted over to the Monarch. However, the Lögrétta, or Court of Legislature, continued to function and it shared legislature power with the king. Any laws that were adopted had to be approved by the Monarch. If the Monarch decided to initiate legislation, the Lögrétta (which is pretty much a revised Althingi) had to approve it. Two legal administrators called lögmenn replaced the Lawspeaker.

Under this new set up, Icelanders had to pay taxes to the monarch. In return, they received a code of laws, transportation, shipping between Iceland and Norway, as well as peace. Additionally, Norwegians and Icelanders received equal rights in each other’s countries. Another positive aspect to this union is that it strengthened the trading between the two countries and the settlement of Iceland expanded.

Alþingi Comes to An End Under Danish Rule

This union eventually led to Iceland and Norway being united with Denmark towards the end of the 14th century. The reason for this is that the death of Olav IV of Norway meant that the male royal line had ended. Norway then became part of the Kalmar Union with Sweden and Denmark. Because Denmark had the dominant power, Iceland lost all of its autonomy to the Danish crown, including the legislation powers it had when it united with Norway. The most unfortunate part of this change was that Denmark didn’t need Iceland’s homespun wool or fish, a huge deficit in Icelandic trade was created. Sadly, Iceland became one of the poorest countries in Europe at the time.

The Alþingi was reduced to only acting as a court of law until 1800. That same year, a royal decree dissolved the Alþingi and a new High Court was created in Reykjavík. It took over the function of the former Lögrétta, which is a court of legislation. It was the predecessor to the Supreme Court in Iceland, which was established in 1920.  

A New Alþing Is Established

While it seemed that the Alþingi was gone forever, like a phoenix it rose from the ashes. 43 years after it had been dissolved, another royal decree was handed down to establish a new Althingi in 1843. After elections were held in 1844, the 26 members met on the first of July 1845.

Twenty of the electoral districts had elected one member each and the remaining six were “royally nominated members” that the king had selected.

A session of the Icelandic parliament lasted four weeks but, if necessary, it could be extended. Unfortunately, the group was not more than a consultative body for the Danish monarch. Some of their tasks were looking over proposed legislation. Any proposals that were adopted were called petitions. Even with these restrictions, the new Althing made improvement to legislation in the country.

Nationalism in Iceland Leads to a Constitution

In the 19th century, many Icelanders that had been educated in Denmark came back to their home island and sparked an independence movement. The demand for more civil rights was also spreading in mainland Europe. While the Danish tried to pass legislation that basically ignored requests by Icelandic people, the king of Denmark was eventually forced to meet the demands of the nationalists and liberals in the country.

At the National Assembly in 1851, the absolute monarch was repealed and a constitutional monarchy was established. Iceland was granted six seats in the Danish Parliament. The Danes put forth a bill that would have made the Danish Constitution from 1849 valid in Iceland. This meant that the elected Danish parliament would take power over the most important issues.The Icelanders were not happy with this.

While Iceland had been under Danish rule, Icelandic people had pretty much been ruling themselves when it came to domestic matters. Now, all matters would fall under the parliament. Jón Sigurðsson, the leader of the Icelandic Independence Movement, and the other Icelandic members protested against this at the assembly. The issue of Iceland’s constitution remain unresolved for decades following this event.

1874 was the millennial anniversary of the settlement of Iceland and festivities were held. The Danish King at the time, Christian IX attended the celebrations. During his visit, he granted Iceland its own constitution. That constitution is what the current constitution in the country is based on today.

Under the constitution, the Alþingi had joint legislative power with the monarch regarding Icelandic matters. Additionally, Iceland’s National Treasury took over taxation and financial allocation. The king still had the right to veto, and he often used it.

A New Set Up in Parliament

The Alþing members increased to 36. While six were still appointed by the crown, the other 30 were elected in general elections. Eight were elected from single member districts and 22 were elected from 11 double member districts. The parliament was also divided into an upper chamber (efri deild) and a lower chamber (nedri deild). The upper chamber consisted of the six elected officials and the six members appointed by the crown. The remaining elected members sat in the lower chamber. The highest representative of the government at the time in Iceland was the General Governor (landshöfðingi).

Between 1880 and 1881, the Parliament House at Austurvöllur in Reykjavík was built. That same building is where the Alþing meets today.

Severing Ties With Denmark

On the 1st of December in 1918, Iceland became a state in personal union with the Danish king. This agreement was called the Icelandic-Danish Act of Union. After 25 years, the agreement would expire and either state had the choice to leave the union at that time. Under this act, unrestricted legislative power was granted to the Althingi. Over time the number of members of the Althingi increased to 52.

World War II marked a time for change in Iceland. Due to Denmark being occupied by Germany in 1940, the union was no longer in effect. The day after the occupation happened, the Althingi passed two resolutions. One was that the Icelandic cabinet now had the power of the Head of State. The other was that Iceland accepted full responsibility for coastal surveillance and foreign policy.  On June 17, 1944 The Republic of Iceland was established.

In the decades following many changes happened. The number of members was increased to 63 and the system of electoral districts was drastically changed. The voting age was lowered to 20 years old in 1969, but in 1984 it was lowered again to 18 years of age. Another major change is that the assembly now only has one chamber, which is known as a unicameral legislature, and twelve standing committees. That change was introduced in May 1991.

How Power is Distributed in the Icelandic Government

Today the Icelandic government is a constitutional republic with a multi-party system. Most people know that Iceland has a President but what they might not know is that the position makes that person the head of state. While the President does have legislative power, it is shared with Parliament, who exercises executive power. Parliament is led by the Prime Minister. The judiciary is independent of the legislature and the executive.

Anyone that is eligible to vote can run for a seat in parliament. The only exemptions are the President and the judges of the Supreme Court. While the President is determined by popular vote every four years, the legislature are elected by proportional representation every four years.

The President formally appoints the Prime Minister. After the election, a leader of a political party is given authority by the President to form a cabinet, which is made up of different party members. Even though Iceland has a multi-party system, it is set up so that no one party can gain power alone. The parties must work with each other to form coalition governments.

The cabinet of ministers stays in power until the next election in four years or if a new government is formed.

It has happened that new governments were formed before the four year term was up, especially following the economic meltdown in 2008.

Icelandic Political Parties

The following parties are represented in the Althingi as of right now:

The Independence Party

The Left Green Movement

The Social Democratic Alliance

The Centre Party

The Progressive Party

The Pirate Party

The People’s Party

The Reform Party

While there is a lot more to talk about regarding the Icelandic government, including scandals, I will leave that for another episode. However, now that you have a pretty thorough background of the history of the Icelandic government and political landscape.

Random Fact of the Episode

The current Prime Minister is Katrín Jakobsdóttir. She is the second female Prime Minister in Icelandic history. The first was Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir. Additionally, she was the first openly lesbian head of government in the world.

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir was the first elected female president in the world.

Icelandic Word of the Episode

Stjórnarskrá – constitution

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