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Basic information on foreign and domestic policy, national security, political system, parties and elections, government and administrative structure. Participation in international organizations, treaties and regional unions.International and foreign policy and more. ... Read more

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This is the first comprehensive analysis of voting behavior in the highly volatile Icelandic electorate. The book is based on election surveys conducted by the author following the Parliamentary elections of 1983 and 1987. Voting behavior and electoral volatility are analyzed in terms of three theoretical models of voting behavior: a party identification approach, an issue-oriented approach and a social-structural approach. The Icelandic findings are compared to voting behavior in Norway and Sweden, and, to a lesser extent, in Denmark, Great Britain and the United States. ... Read more

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Chapters: Althing, Cabinet of Iceland, List of Cabinets of Iceland, List of Icelandic Rulers, List of Standing Committees of the Icelandic Parliament, Constituencies of Iceland, Minister for Nordic Cooperation, List of Speakers of the Althing, Aircraft Accident Investigation Board, Iceland Ombudsman. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 40. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: This article is part of the series:Politics and government ofIceland The Alþingi, Anglicised variously as Althing or Althingi, is the national parliamentliterally, "(the) all-thing" (= general assembly)of Iceland. It was founded in 930 at Þingvellir, (the "assembly fields" or "Parliament Plains"), situated approximately 45 km east of what would later become the country's capital, Reykjavík, and this event marked the beginning of the Icelandic Commonwealth. Even after Iceland's union with Norway, the Althing still held its sessions at Þingvellir until 1799, when it was discontinued for some decades. It was restored in 1844 and moved to Reykjavík, where it has resided ever since. The present parliament building, the Alþingishús, was built in 1881, of hewn Icelandic stone. The constitution of Iceland provides for six electoral constituencies with the possibility of an increase to seven. The constituency boundaries are fixed by legislation. Each constituency elects nine members. In addition, each party is allocated seats based on its proportion of the overall national vote in order that the number of members in parliament for each political party should be more or less proportional to its overall electoral support. A party must have won at least five percent of the national vote in order to be eligible for these proportionally distributed seats. Political participation in Iceland is very high: usually over 85 per cent of...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=118477 ... Read more

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The book describes a case study of governmental reform in Iceland during the period 1993-2000. Public management reform has become a political priority in Iceland as elsewhere in the world in the last two decades, a response to economic and administrative problems during this time. It has also been a reaction to ideas which have come in vogue for both diagnosing the problems of government and providing solutions. The problems identified involve the growing cost of the public sector and an inefficient and unresponsive bureaucracy. The solutions offered focus on ensuring efficiency, effectiveness and flexibility by transferring government activities to the competitive marketplace through privatization or by adopting a market mechanism within government. The literature has identified both theoretical flaws and potential limitations in the application of current governmental reform. The literature, however, does not provide voluminous empirical data on its effects. The book includes data on the significance of public management for the central government in Iceland and illustrates how various situational factors, such as administrative characteristics, reform management capacity and experiential learning efforts, have contributed to the reform outcome. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Very good
I highly recommend this book for someone who wishes to have a greater understanding of social history and economy in medieval Iceland.Written by an anthropologist it uses a good combination of historical record, written literature (sagas) and anthropological technique to describe the economic conditions of Iceland during this period.

It is a very short book but is nice to have for the collection:

Chapters include: Production Chiefly Consumption Politics Exchange Kinship, Church, and King Ideology

In the conclusion it has a nice justification for the use of the saga as source for social information. ... Read more

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The nomination process has been called 'the secret garden of politics' - and for good reasons. The process by which candidates for election are being screened and selected is among the least understood and researched political phenomena, even though this process is so closely linked to the power structure within political parties. Nominations are mechanisms for selecting candidates, but also for holding the incumbent delegates responsible. In this book, nomination processes in four Nordic countries - Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Norway - are analysed and evaluated as instruments of democracy. The authors compare institutions, procedures and unwritten norms. The book in particular addresses questions about the citizens' ability to influence the nomination processes. The process is not only modelled in traditional terms of representation, but also as a principal-agent relationship. Despite great institutional similarities, the nomination processes and their outcomes vary considerably across the four countries. In particular, significant differences are found with regard to the extent of citizen control.The book provides a first mapping of this central feature of Nordic politics and thus also serves the comparative purpose of differentiating between otherwise similar political systems. ... Read more

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Chapters: Agriculture Ministers of Iceland, Business Affairs Ministers of Iceland, Communications Ministers of Iceland, Education Ministers of Iceland, Environment Ministers of Iceland, Finance Ministers of Iceland, Fisheries Ministers of Iceland, Foreign Ministers of Iceland, Health Ministers of Iceland, Industry Ministers of Iceland, Justice Ministers of Iceland, Prime Ministers of Iceland, Social Affairs Ministers of Iceland, Prime Minister of Iceland, Ásgeir Ásgeirsson, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, Davíð Oddsson, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, Geir Haarde, Steingrímur Hermannsson, Halldór Ásgrímsson, Steingrímur J. Sigfússon, Jón Þorláksson, Albert Guðmundsson, Össur Skarphéðinsson, Geir Hallgrímsson, Valgerður Sverrisdóttir, Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, Árni Mathiesen, Hermann Jónasson, Björn Bjarnason, Ólafur Thors, Þorsteinn Pálsson, Friðrik Sophusson, Siv Friðleifsdóttir, Bjarni Benediktsson, Hannes Hafstein, Björgvin G. Sigurðsson, Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson, Gunnar Thoroddsen, Gylfi Magnússon, Jón Sigurðsson, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Einar Kristinn Guðfinnsson, Benedikt Sigurðsson Gröndal, Þórunn Sveinbjarnardóttir, Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson, Kolbrún Halldórsdóttir, Sigurður Eggerz, Guðni Ágústsson, Björn Jónsson, Sturla Böðvarsson, Jón Magnússon, Ásta Ragnheiður Jóhannesdóttir, Magnús Stefánsson, Magnús Guðmundsson, Ragna Árnadóttir, Einar Arnórsson, Jóhann Hafstein, Stefán Jóhann Stefánsson, Ögmundur Jónasson, Ólafur Jóhannesson, Kristján Möller, Steingrímur Steinþórsson, Björn Þórðarson, Kristján Jónsson, Tryggvi Þórhallsson, Emil Jónsson, Brynjólfur Bjarnason, Gylfi Þ. Gíslason. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 156. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Davíð Oddsson (pronounced ) (born 17 January 1948) is an Icelandic politician and the longest-serving Prime ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=275057 ... Read more

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Chapters: Ministry of Finance, List of Icelandic Ministries, Ministry of Communications, Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Security, Ministry for the Environment, Ministry of Business Affairs, Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 34. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: This article is part of the series:Politics and government ofIceland The Icelandic Ministry of Finance (Icelandic: ) is responsible for overseeing the finances of the Icelandic government. Since 1 February 2009, the minister has been Steingrímur J. Sigfússon of the Left-Green Movement. The top civil servant in the Ministry of Finance is Baldur Gudlaugsson, who was appointed Permanent Secretary from November 1, 2000. From February 6 to April 30, 2009, Indridi H. Thorlaksson is acting Permanent Secretary while Mr. Gudlaugsson is on leave. He runs the ministry on a day-to-day basis and is the chief liaison between the Minister and the civil servants. There are six departments of the Ministry of Finance, each of which is headed by a Director-General. The Ministry staff numbers around 80 specialists and support personnel. The Administration Department is responsible for general operations of the Ministry, preparation of the ministry's annual operational budget and supervision of the Ministry's information services. It is headed by Angantyr Einarsson since September 1, 2007. The Budget Department's main job is to oversee the production of the government's fiscal budget. In addition the Budget Department provides support for the supplementary budget and the government accounts bill. The Budget Office oversees relati...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=15612587 ... Read more

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Iceland Diplomatic Handbook ... Read more

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This book explores the complex relationship between small states and European integration using the case study of Iceland, the only Nordic state not to have applied for EU membership. The authors seek to explain the country's reluctance to participate in European integration and how the political elite considers membership to have unbearable constraints on the economy, fishing interests, the farming community and Icelandic society in general. ... Read more