APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110016-6
Despite the limitations placed upon the Queen's real power, her role as the personification of Danish nationhood accords her considerable prestige. The embodiment of a millennium of Danish history, the Crown is the enduring symbol of the state and a focal point of national unity in times of stress, as during the Nazi German occupation of World War II.
The royal house of Denmark is the most ancient dynasty in Europe, dating back in a more or less direct line to Gorm the Old, who reigned from 900 to 950. Danish Monarchs have blood ties with virtually every other royal family of Europe and special ties of family and friendship with the Norwegian and Swedish Monarchs. The Danes expect their Monarch to be regal on regal occasions, and they would prefer their royalty to marry royalty. Otherwise, they are well pleased with the democratic proclivities of the royal household. It is not uncommon for the royal family to mix in the marketplace with an ease unknown outside Scandinavia. The prevailing attitude toward the monarchy is one of respect; there are in Denmark few passionate royalists and even fewer anti-royalists.
The Queen, Margrethe, succeeded to the throne upon the death of her father, King Frederick IX, on 14 January 1972. The eldest of Frederick's three daughters, Margrethe is widely read and well trained in the niceties of her position. She was married in June 1967 to French-born Count Henri de Monpezat, now Prince Henrik of Denmark.
4. Legislature
Responsibility for national legislative action rests ultimately on the members of a single-house parliament, the Folketing. As note above, prior to the restructuring brought about by the Constitution of 1953, the national legislature had been bicameral. The indirectly chosen and (prior to 1915) partly appointive upper house (Landsting) had been a conservative check to the will of the more representative, popularly elected lower house (Folketing) during the formative years of parliamentary democracy. In its later years the Landsting fell to the political control of the major parties, whereafter it came to be regarded as an anachronistic holdover from earlier concepts of political organization. In the interest of "democratic efficiency," the upper house was finally discarded, and with it another element of the checks and balances organizational doctrine. The concomitant institution of the popular referendum in 1953 (see below) brought parliamentary democracy in Denmark to its purest state. Regrets over the demise of the Landsting, except among a handful of staunch conservatives, have largely dissipated.
The Folketing has 179 members. By constitutional provision two members represent constituencies in Greenland and two in the Faroe Islands. While the overseas representatives have not normally voted on mainland issues, there has been no constitutional restriction preventing them from doing so. As the legislative majorities needed to seat governments and to effect legislation became increasingly difficult to command, these governments in the closely divided Folketing, particularly in the 1970s, tended to press the Faroese and Greenland representatives into participating in decisions on all issues.
Every member of the Folketing must be at least 21 years of age. He is elected for a 4-year term but may serve for a lesser period, depending on the life of the Folketing. The emphasis in the elective process is more often on party than on the ability or charm of the individual candidate, who, as in the British system, is frequently not a resident of the constituency in which he runs. The resulting concentration on national rather than on local party platforms tends to deemphasize purely local considerations and to encourage a stronger central authority. It also underlines the essential similarity of problems - the lack of marked sectional differences throughout this small homogenous kingdom.
A newly elected Folketing is required to convene within 12 days after election day and may sit continuously for 1 year. The parliamentary year lasts from the first Tuesday in October until the same Tuesday of the following year. During this span, meetings are called at the initiative of the presiding officer, the Speaker, and may also be called by the Prime Minister or by request of two-fifths of the parliamentary leadership. A majority of the total membership constitutes a quorum. Meetings are usually public. The Constitution requires the Prime Minister to deliver a state of the nation message at the annual opening session of parliament. The regular parliamentary sessions are held at Christiansborg palace in Copenhagen.
The Folketing has a strong sense of its own sovereignty; it is self-governing and acts as judge of its own behavior. No member may be prosecuted or imprisoned without the consent of the Folketing unless he is caught in the act of committing the crime. The Folketing is ruled over by a steering committee, the Presidium, the dominant figure of which is the Speaker, usually a member of the leading political party. Four deputy speakers and four parliamentary secretaries, the latter having primary responsibility to count the votes, round out the legislative hierarchy.
Much of the work of parliament is carried on in committees, whose responsibilities have grown heavy
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110016-6
