ONE FOR THE RECORD - THE 1997 STORTING ELECTION

Norwegian politics remains in a turbulent and volatile state. The 1997 Storting election became a record-breaking election where two parties , the Christian Peoples Party and the Progress Party, achieved their b est ever results. The Conservative Party experienced the worst result in the party's more than hundred years' history. The Labor Party had i ts second worst election since the 1930s, while the Center party halve d its number of voters and lost two thirds of their MPs compared to th e previous election. The election campaign played a decisive role in t his outcome. More than half of the voters decided which party to vote for during the campaign. Lack of commitment, rather than the parties' ability to create a positive interest in the election, seems to have c aused the large shifts in support for the parties and the record-high share of voters who decided during the campaign. 43 percent of the vot ers changed party preference from 1993 to 1997. If we exclude non-vote rs, 33 percent switched party. The main issues of the campaign were he alth and eldercare. Although these issues dominated in all party group s, we find clear evidence of ''issue ownership,'' where specific parti es attract voters with particular agendas and issue priorities. The La bor Party government stepped down after the election and was replaced by a centrist government led by Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik. T he new government is one of the weakest minority governments in Norweg ian history and is only supported by 42 of the 165 Storting members.