ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Peter Scharff Smith

Peter Scharff Smith is Professor in the Sociology of Law at the University of Oslo. He has published on diverse topics such as prisons, punishment, and human rights, as well as on Nazism and the Waffen-SS.

POSTS BY Peter Scharff Smith

02 March 2021

The Pomp of Popular Constitutional Outrage

In January 2021, the Norwegian government decided to circulate a proposal for formally adding a curfew clause to the Act Relating to the Control of Communicable Diseases from 1994. The public reacted with an extraordinary expression of popular engagement and outrage. On 17 February 2021, in the face of strong public, commercial and political opposition, the proposal was shelved by the government. This case may show something both about the level of trust between the authorities and the public in Norway, and the reactions when one of the parties is perceived to break the “social contract” that is embedded in this relationship. Continue reading >>

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