Denmark

V

Government

Denmark is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy, governed under a constitution of 1953. Margrethe II succeeded to the throne on the death of her father, Frederick IX, in 1972.

A

Executive and Legislature

National executive power is nominally vested in the Danish sovereign, but in practice is exercised by a Cabinet led by the prime minister. The prime minister, appointed by the sovereign, must have the support of a majority of the legislature.

Legislative power in Denmark is vested jointly in the sovereign and in a unicameral legislature, the Folketing or diet. The concurrence of sovereign and Folketing is necessary for the enactment of legislation, the declaration of war, and the signing of peace treaties. The maximum legislative term is four years. The 179 members of the Folketing are popularly elected; the Faroe Islands and Greenland are each represented by two members.

Elections are conducted on the basis of proportional representation: this is meant to reflect truly all voters’ opinions; minority governments are often the result. All Danes over 18 years of age who are permanent residents are eligible to vote and to stand for election to the Folketing. Measures passed by the legislature may be submitted to a referendum with the consent of one third of the members; if at least 30 per cent of eligible voters reject the measure, it is defeated. The most recent general election took place in November 2007.

B

Judiciary

Judicial power in Denmark is vested in 82 lower courts presided over by individual judges; two high courts, each with a panel of judges; and a Supreme Court, which sits in Copenhagen.

C

Local Government

Local government was reorganized in January 2007 with the 13 counties and 275 municipalities being replaced with five regions and 98 municipalities.

D

Political Parties

Denmark has many political parties. However, the left-of-centre Social Democratic Party (SD; Socialdemokratiet i Danmark), founded in 1871, has long been the largest. Other leading parties include the centre-left Liberal Party (V; Venstre—Danmarks liberale parti), the moderate-centre-right Conservative People’s Party (KF; Konservative Folkeparti), the moderately left-wing Socialist People’s Party (SF; Socialistisk Folkeparti), and the conservative and nationalist Danish People’s Party (DF; Dansk Folkeparti).