A Struggle for the Agenda?: Norwegian Parties and the European Issue, 1989-1995

The aim of the article is to explore electoral strategies employed by Norwegian party elites to handle the European issue between 1989 and 1995. On the basis of the literature on party strategies - especially agenda-setting - I present a hypothesis on selective emphasis in the party elites' communication to the electorate. The hypothesis predicts strong emphasis on the EU issue in the anti-EU parties, while conflicting aims - maximizing votes in elections and winning the referendum on EU membership - will lead the pro-EU parties to downplay the issue. To test this prediction, the contents of party programmes, questions asked during Question Time in parliament, and a televised party leader debate are analysed. The results are mixed; agenda-setting efforts seem to vary with different communication channels. While the hypothesis was supported in the case of the television debate, no selective emphasis was found in the party programmes.