Increasing Parliamentary Control of the Executive? New Instruments and Emerging Effects

Abstract This article primarily describes and analyses the effects of the revitalised control activities of the Norwegian parliament on the relationship between the legislature and the executive and on the internal workings of the executive. Secondly, it discusses whether these effects are constrained by modern New Public Management-oriented reforms in the civil service and of Norway's adaptation to the EU. The theoretical frame of reference consists of three perspectives - a hierarchical, a negotiation and a cultural-institutional one. The analysis is based on elite interviews with political and administrative leaders, state company directors and respondents from the Office of the Auditor General. The main conclusion is that the Parliament has got more control over less - a more intense control focus over a narrower sphere.