PSA Specialist Group on Parliaments and Legislatures
Overview of Parliament
The Real Borgen: The Danish Folketing
By Martin Hansen
On 18 June, the Danes will go to the ballot box to elect a new parliament. Until a few years ago
knowledge of Danish politics and the Danish Parliament would be a matter for few outside of
Denmark. However, in recent years Folketinget has indirectly become one of the most popular
parliaments in Europe. While legislative scholars might like think this is due to its institutional design
or importance for testing legislative theories, the truth is somewhat different. The TV-series Borgen
took most of Europe by storm with its fictional depiction of Danish politics and the Danish
Parliament which is housed at Christiansborg castle and often colloquially called “Borgen”.
Political system
The first Danish Constitution was signed by the King in 1849 and the main part of the current
Constitution can be traced back to the original. Amending the Constitution is very difficult and
requires a referendum where a majority must be in favour and at least 40 per cent of those eligible
to vote are in favour. The Constitution last saw change in 1953 where the upper chamber of the
parliament, Landstinget, was abolished and the current unicameral system was established. General
elections to the Folketing are held every four years, or before if the Prime Minister decides so
earlier. All Danish citizens with residence in Denmark are entitled to vote in the elections to the
Folketing. After an election there are no investiture requirements in the Constitution for government
formation. However, since 1953 it has been constitutionally established that if a majority is found
against the government it must either resign or call a new election.
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PSA Specialist Group on Parliaments and Legislatures
Overview of Parliament
From 1905-1973 the Danish party system was dominated by four parties: the Social Democrats
(Socialdemokratiet), the Social Liberals (Radikale Venstre), the Conservatives (Det Konservative
Folkeparti), and the Liberals (Venstre). 1973 is noted as the “earthquake election” where the number
of parties represented in Parliament doubled from five to ten. Besides the four “old” parties, several
other parties are a part of the current Danish party system: the Socialist People’s Party (Socialistisk
Folkeparti) established in 1958; the Danish People’s Party (Dansk Folkeparti) established in 1995
after a split in the Progress Party; Liberal Alliance established in 2008; and, the Unity List
(Enhedslisten) established in 1990 as an amalgamation of three far-left parties. In the 2015 election
the Christian Democrats (Kristendemokraterne, established in 1971) and the Alternative
(Alternativet, established in 2013) will also compete; the latter currently have one seat in
parliament.
Since 1982, Danish governments have been minority coalitions, except from 1993-94 where a
majority coalition was in place. Since 1953, only two other periods (1957-60 and 1968-71) have seen
majority governments. The Prime Minister of the current outgoing government was the first woman
to hold the post, Helle Thorning-Schmidt (Socialdemocrat) who took office in 2011. Before her it was
eighteen years of men who shared the same surname: Poul Nyrup Rasmussen (Socialdemocrats,
1993-2001), Anders Fogh Rasmussen (Liberals, 2001-09) and Lars Løkke Rasmussen (Liberals, 200911).
Electoral System and Representation
The Danish Folketing has 179 members elected for a four-year period. 175 are elected in Denmark, 2
in Greenland and 2 in the Faroe Islands. The 175 Danish seats are divided in two categories: 135 are
constituency seats distributed among ten multi-member constituencies and the remaining 40 seats
are compensatory seats distributed among the three electoral provinces. The apportionment of
seats among the multi-member constituencies takes place every five years on the basis of
population, number of registered voters in the last general election and a measure for population
density (area in square kilometres multiplied by twenty). The island constituency of Bornholm is
guaranteed two seats even though it only qualifies for one in the calculation.
The seats are distributed proportionally with each party making the electoral threshold of either
winning 2 percent of the national vote or at least one seat in a multi-member constituency partaking
in the final distribution of seats. While the multi-member constituencies are distributed through the
D’Hondt method (votes divided by 1, 2, 3,…) the overall number of seat available for each party is
determined by the Hare quota (votes per party/valid votes). The number of compensatory seats
allocated to each party is determined by subtracting the number of seats obtained in the multimember constituencies from the Hare quota. There is a further allocation of compensatory seats
between the multi-member constituencies taking into account the total number of compensatory
seats allocated to each electoral province.
Once the seats are distributed between the parties the individual MPs are selected. Most parties
have open lists where it is the amount of personal votes that determines which MP is elected.
Selection of candidates is for most parties a local matter with only limited interference by the
national party. Members of the Folketing are bound only by their conviction; this is guaranteed in
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PSA Specialist Group on Parliaments and Legislatures
Overview of Parliament
the Constitution, which also means that party shifts can take place as the seats are given to
individuals and not the particular party. From 2011-15 five members changed party affiliation, four
of whom had previously served as government ministers in the period.
The 179 members of the Folketing are full-time politicians earning approx. €92000 a year, with the
possibility of an extra €14000 year for housing costs unless they live in housing owned by the
Parliament. A larger proportion of members have a university education than among the general
public and more than half of the members have a background in the political parties’ youth
organisations. The outgoing parliament set a record for female representation with 39.1 percent of
its members being women. Since 1998 this number has not dipped below 37.4 percent.
Organisation and Procedures
The procedure and organisation of the Folketing is decided by the Constitution and more practically
by the Standing Orders. A parliamentary session begins on the first Tuesday in October, or twelve
working days after a general election, and runs until the day before the first Tuesday in the following
October, or until an election is called. When the parliament convenes for a new session the speaker
and four deputy speakers are elected. Also elected are the standing committees which correspond
closely to the government portfolios. The Danish standing committees are described in the literature
as being powerful in terms of their ability to initiate change to proposed legislation, but also in
scrutinising the government. Committee membership is decided proportionally, though traditionally
between two blocs; a government and an opposition bloc. The actual distribution of members within
a bloc is negotiated by the parties supporting the bloc and the intra-party distribution is decided by
the party leadership. Two committees have a special role; the Finance Committees which can allow
spending not listed in the annual budget and the Foreign Affairs Committee which the government
must inform and take advice from before large scale foreign affairs decisions are taken.
Bills are proposed in the Folketing by either the government or MPs, bills from the latter group are
known as “private bills” and usually stand little chance of getting to a final vote. After proposal each
bill is sent to the relevant standing committee which will prepare a report with amendments and
recommendation for the bill. Committee meetings are closed, but open hearings may be held. A bill
must be read three times in the Folketing with the third reading being the one where final passage is
voted upon. Half of the members must be present for quorum in a vote and a majority of these must
back the bill, abstentions are allowed. In practice the actual number of votes in favour and against a
bill is not important, as the passage or defeat is known in advance and the presence of members
negotiated between the party whips. MPs voting against their party happen infrequently and have
few in any consequences for the members. Once a bill is passed it is sent to the Queen for her Royal
Assent and signature.
The agenda of the Folketing is formally controlled by the Speaker, although the Government has
priority for all its proposals. The government has control over the central administration and as such
are better suited for dealing with bill-specific issues than the parliament. In this respect it has
recently been decided to employ more staff by the parliament to serve as a counterweight to the
central administration which must work for the government of the day. Whether this will be a
success remains to be seen. Generally, the Folketing is equipped with many tools to scrutinise the
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PSA Specialist Group on Parliaments and Legislatures
Overview of Parliament
government, through committee work, but also through questions. The party groups are also
allocated funds for hiring assistant, although the choice has in recent years gone away from
academic specialists more towards hiring media-orientated staff. Similar to other Scandinavian
parliaments interest group lobbying play an increasingly important role for the day-to-day work of
MPs, in terms of both parliamentary questioning and in their ability to hold the executive
responsible for their decisions.
References
E. Damgaard. 2011. Change and Challenges of Danish Parliamentary Democracy. In T. Bergmann and
K. Strøm (eds.). The Madisonian Turn: Political Parties and Parliamentary Democracy in Nordic
Europe. Michigan: University of Michigan Press.
P. Esaisson and K. Heidar (eds.). 2000. Beyond Westminster and Congress. The Nordic Experience.
Columbus: Ohio State University Press.
M. E. Hansen. 2010. Committee Assignment Politics in the Danish Folketing. Scandinavian Political
Studies 33: 381-401.
H. H. Pedersen, A. S. Binderkrantz and P. M. Christiansen. 2014. Lobbying Across Arenas: Interest
Group Involvement in the Legislative Process in Denmark. Legislative Studies Quarterly 39: 199-225.
Website: www.folketinget.dk
Martin Ejnar Hansen is born and educated in Denmark and currently Lecturer in Political Science at
Brunel University London ([email protected]).
Image: Christiansborg Palace. CC-BY-2.0.
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