Politiques_, Jan. 15 and March 15, 1906.]

The fundamental law of Norway to-day is the Eidsvold constitution (p. 579)
of April, 1814, revised, November 4 following, to comport with the
conditions of the union with Sweden. The original instrument was not
only democratic in tone, but doctrinaire. With little in the nature of
native institutions upon which to build, the framers laid hold of
features of the French, English, American, and other foreign systems,
in the effort to transplant to Norwegian soil a body of political
forms and usages calculated to produce a high order of popular
government. No inconsiderable portion of these forms and usages
survived the revision enforced by the failure to achieve national
independence. Of this portion, however, several proved impracticable,
and constitutional amendments after 1814 were numerous. Upon the
establishment of independence in 1905 the fundamental law was modified
further by the elimination from it of all reference to the former
Swedish affiliation. The constitution to-day comprises one hundred
twelve articles, of which forty-six deal with the executive branch of
the government, thirty-seven with citizenship and the legislative
power, six with the judiciary, and twenty-three with matters of a
miscellaneous character. The process of amendment is appreciably more
difficult than that by which changes may be introduced in the Swedish
instrument.[811] Proposed amendments may be presented in the Storthing
only during the first regular session following a national election,
and they may be adopted only at a regular session following the
ensuing election, and by a two-thirds vote. It is required,
furthermore, that such amendments "shall never contravene the
principles of the constitution, but shall relate only to such
modifications in particular provisions as will not change the spirit
of the instrument."[812]

[Footnote 811: See p. 589.]

[Footnote 812: Art. 112. Dodd, Modern
Constitutions, II., 143. An English version of the
Norwegian constitution is printed in Dodd, ibid.,
II., 123-143, and in H. L. Braekstad, The
Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway (London,
1905). The standard treatise on the Norwegian
system of government is T. H. Aschehoug, Norges
Nuvaerende Statsforfatning (2d ed.,