Associate Professor Magnus Bergli Rasmussen at the University of South-Eastern Norway will receive NOK 12 million in funding from the Research Council of Norway.
Rasmussen will conduct research on the role political parties have played in building the Norwegian welfare state.
– For example, how important was it which parties had the most power? For over 70 years, the distribution of local political positions, such as who would be mayor, was decided by drawing lots. Could it be that the lottery had a decisive impact on how society has developed to this day, asks Rasmussen, who is employed at USN Business School.
The funding has been allocated through the Research Council's FRIPRO scheme.
This is FRIPRO
FRIPRO is an open, national competition arena covering all disciplines and topics. Through FRIPRO, the Research Council of Norway funds basic, outstanding research, with project ideas coming from the researchers themselves.
FRIPRO aims to promote
- scientific quality at the forefront of international research
- bold and innovative research
- careers and international mobility for researchers early in their research careers
Rasmussen's project is entitled “The Power of Parties (PoPs): The Origins of a Nordic Welfare State.”
It is one of 18 projects that have been awarded funding after the Research Council reviewed 104 applications from researchers across the country.
– It is incredibly exciting to have the opportunity to explore the origins of the Norwegian welfare state and how, and to what extent, political parties contributed to shaping it, both locally in the municipalities and nationally.
Rasmussen says the lotteries provide a unique research opportunity: an “experiment” in which political power in the municipality was actually decided by lottery.
He says that the drawing of lots for mayor is particularly important, as it arose when the parties had equal representation in municipal councils.
In such cases, the mayor had a double vote – and the outcome of the draw thus determined who gained political power.
– Support from the Research Council of Norway enables us to collect data from county and national archives across the country on the emergence of the welfare state. We will also digitize extensive individual data, such as local tax assessments and jury appointments, to investigate whether the parties used their control over tax authorities and courts to influence tax and legal policy. For example: Did the Labor Party appoint its own members to the tax authorities, who then set higher income and wealth thresholds?
Due to the scope of the project, no researchers have previously had the opportunity, or dared to take the risk, of initiating such a project, says Rasmussen.
– With funding from the Research Council, we can now take this risk and study the emergence of the welfare state in a way that has never been possible before.
Competed on quality
There is a great deal of prestige attached to the Research Council's FRIPRO scheme. Minister of Research and Higher Education Sigrun Aasland (AP) says that the projects that have made it through the selection process will provide highly relevant research in important areas of society.
– FRIPRO funding goes to researchers who have competed on quality. With schemes like this, we are building strong knowledge environments in Norway and strengthening our long-term ability to meet both current and future knowledge needs, says Aasland.
Top-level research
The research topics are varied, ranging from medicine and physics to history and society.
– These projects represent truly cutting-edge research that will help push the boundaries of what we know. Curiosity-driven research has major repercussions throughout society – from the development of new industries to future security and welfare,” says Mari Sundli Tveit, CEO of the Research Council of Norway.
Support from USN
Magnus Bergli Rasmussen has also received funding from USN's strategic research area “Democracy, Social Organization and Governance” to develop a future project on political control of employees and labor market conflicts.