ABSTRACT
The modernisation of the Althingi committee system with the shift to unicameralism in 1991 saw the creation of small, multifunctional bodies with legislative and investigative powers, as well as deliberative duties. How have the Icelandic committees performed their functions? Only slightly larger than the Scottish committees, the committees of the Althingi would, all other things being equal, appear well placed to develop significant collective expertise. Has this in fact been the case? Or have factors such partisanship, instability in their composition, membership of multiple committees and low attendance militated against the emergence of the type of 'corporate committees' described by Loewenberg and Patterson (1979)? What, moreover, has been the impact of the substantial growth in the number of female parliamentarians on committee work? Has a 'committee culture' evolved or is the Icelandic Althingi very much a case of a 'debating assembly' characterised by Westminster-style 'old polities'? These are some of the question to be tackled in this chapter, which focuses on the Althingi committees at work. It first considers their legislative function, then discusses the way they deliberate on government bills and finally examines the extent to which they use their investigative powers. It is concluded that, while there is much that is 'old politics' in the Althingi, the committees are much more pro-active, and their agenda-setting impact is significantly greater than before the shift to unicameralism
