Hallbera Frida West

Hallbera Frida West is a Research Fellow at the University of Agder (UiA), affiliated with the Department of Political Science and Management. Her primary research focuses on political institutions, particularly parliamentary oversight mechanisms, executive-legislative dynamics, and sub-state governance systems. She currently leads the CENTENOL project examining EU influence on Norwegian institutions despite non-membership, and contributes to the KODEM public administration panel data project. Previously, her work explored Faroe Islands self-government models and Arctic political developments.

Her research employs mixed-method approaches, analyzing how institutional designs shape oversight behaviors and how sub-state units navigate multilevel governance challenges. Key projects include a Carlsberg Foundation study on parliamentary control beyond partisan politics, which identified mechanisms for depoliticized oversight through institutional design and party cooperation. Her PhD dissertation, "MP Firefighting: When do MPs hold government accountable?", demonstrated partisan logics dominating oversight activity in reactive scenarios, contrasting with institutionalized processes promoting cross-party unity.

Awards and grants include the Carlsberg Foundation-funded project (2024) and ongoing UiA postdoctoral support. Her work frequently appears in journals like Regional & Federal Studies and Arctic Yearbook, with chapters in edited volumes on northern European governance. Collaborations include the University of Bergen’s CENTENOL initiative and Arctic-focused interdisciplinary networks.

Labs/Teams: Active within UiA’s political science research group and the CENTENOL consortium. Future work aims to expand analysis of EU regulatory spillover effects on Nordic non-members and Arctic geopolitical shifts impacting sub-state autonomy.