ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with foreign affairs and focuses on three policy areas: the policies of the welfare state, the public efforts to protect the environment, and gender equality measures. Most of the prewar elements of the social policies, accident, sickness, pensions, and unemployment insurance, had emerged out of the political battles between the left and right parties in Norwegian politics. The Labor Party in particular advocated universal and publicly financed plans, often supported by the Liberals, whereas the Conservative Party held back and generally preferred private solutions. Successive Norwegian governments have been very active in working for international agreements to reduce long-distance pollution and the emission of greenhouse gasses. Norway has for a long time been a net importer of pollution originating in the United Kingdom and Eastern Europe. One political outcome of the 1970s activism was a much more active public policy in support of improved gender equality.
