ABSTRACT
Iceland is a parliamentary democracy with a popularly elected president who can initiate referenda but otherwise plays a marginal political role. According to Bengtsson Icelandic party politics is relatively polarised by comparison with the other Nordic countries, and more divisive in terms of voter's evaluations of the parties. Two parties competed for the working-class vote: the Social Democrats (SDP) and the People's Alliance (PA), an alliance of communists and left socialists. The central role of the parliamentary groups was accentuated by the relatively active policy and legislative functions of the Alþingi, compared to other legislatures in parliamentary systems. Primary elections in Iceland have been a strange mixture of uniformity and similarity. For the most part, the parties have used a unique voting system, rank ordered plurality, while other aspects have varied across party, district and time.
