APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110016-6
Folketing; only when the political balance is obscure does she tentatively act with independence.
Again, the Constitution gives to the Monarch the determination of the number of government ministers and the distribution of responsibilities among them. However, the fiscal powers of parliament are such as to preclude the Crown from exercising these prerogatives, even if the Monarch were of a mind to do so. The Queen presides over the Cabinet, which when meeting with her is called the Council of State. This highest executive body may also include the royal heir apparent in its deliberations when he or she is of age. The Constitution requires that all bills and important government measures be discussed in the Council of State, except when the Monarch is prevented from holding such a meeting. In practice, the exception has generally proven the rule, with the King or Queen "entrusting" the discussion to the Cabinet presided over by the Prime Minister. It is here that the serious deliberations of the day take place, and a decision, once rendered, is then transmitted to the Queen. To become effective, all government decrees and legislation require the Queen's signature, but this endorsement has become a mere formality.
Powers granted to the Crown by the Constitution and exercised in its behalf by the Prime Minister and the Cabinet include the conduct of foreign affairs, the supreme authority in the direction of military action, and the exercise of emergency powers. In each instance, however, the Folketing, has a check on executive action. The government is constitutionally constrained from making any major foreign policy decision without first consulting the Foreign Affairs Committee of parliament. Except to repel armed attack, military force may not be used against any foreign country without the consent of the Folketing. Provisional laws issued during the absence of parliament must later be approved by it.
The Cabinet may propose legislation. It appoints civil and military officials, grants pardons and amnesties, and through its executive organs it enforces the laws of the land. The Cabinet may be supported directly by only a minority of the parliamentary membership. In such a circumstance, it depends on the occasional support or at least neutrality of one or another party or group of deputies not represented in the cabinet. Only by a formal vote of no confidence is the Cabinet obliged to resign. With the pro forma approval of the Queen, the installed Prime Minister may dissolve the parliament at any time and call for new elections.
Cabinet members may be recruited from outside the ranks of the Folketing, but this is not customary. Previous parliamentary experience, or high position within a political party, or technical expertise helps qualify a person for a Cabinet position. Administrative ability and personableness are natural talents said to be looked for in potential ministers.
The Prime Minister is the political head of the government and oversees political affairs generally. He may also choose to take personal charge of certain areas of national policy. Though subject to the pleasure of the Prime Minister, the other ministers will enjoy some degree of autonomy. The implementation of a law normally falls on one responsible minister; he has the right to issue rules and regulations affecting those agencies under his jurisdiction; and his decisions in administrative matters cannot be appealed. He is administratively and legally responsible not only for his own acts but also for those of his subordinates.
The number of ministers and their deputies are subjects not treated by any constitutional or statutory provision. The 1973 Cabinet of Prime Minister Anker Jorgensen encompassed the usual range of responsibilities associated with a Western-style democratic government. There has been a gradual proliferation of ministries over the years. First established were the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, War, Navy, Finance, and Justice, all of which date from the advent of the modern democratic movement in 1848. The number of ministries has varied according to the importance attached to the various sectors of the national life at various times. Foreign Affairs, Justice, Finance, the military departments (amalgamated into Defense in 1950), Ecclesiastical Affairs, and Education have been firmly established. Other ministries have often been subdivided or merged, not infrequently to meet certain exigencies, such as the balancing of party or personal ambitions within a coalition government.
The ministries dominate the national administrative scene and control many of the large public service organizations, which in other countries enjoy an autonomous public or private status. The Directorate General of Post and Telegraph is a major component of the Ministry of Traffic and Environment. The Minister of Budget and Economics presides over the board of directors of the National Bank, and the Ministry of Finance exerts influence through its account at the bank. Lacking a health ministry, Denmark has instead a National Board of Health (Sundhedsstyrelsen) not directly incorporated in any ministry but closely monitored by the Ministry of Interior, to which it is ultimately responsible. Radio and television broadcasts are the monopoly of Radio Denmark, a public institution directed by a council responsible to the Minister of Cultural Affairs, Disarmament, and Underdeveloped Countries.
4
APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110016-6
