APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110016-6
theoretically determines basic party policy and elects the national officials. In practice, however, the congress tends to endorse the recommendations of the national committee, although not without occasionally lively debate.
The national committee or main board (hovedbestyrelse) meets quarterly; it handles party affairs between congresses and largely determines programs and the nomination of candidates to high party position. The committee also approves the nominations of all candidates to the Folketing. Two-thirds of its 45 members are elected by the congress on a geographical basis; the remainder are the members of the executive committee, all of whom are ex officio members.
The executive committee (forretningsudvalget) has as it main functions the direction of the party finances, control of expenditures, and the determination of the budget. It is comprised of the chairman, vice chairman, treasurer, about four elected secretaries, the chairman of the party group in the Folketing, two representatives (including its chairman) from the LO and one from the cooperatives, a representative from the SDP Youth Organization, the editor in chief of the Social Democratic newspaper, Aktuelt, the head of the party's provincial press, and a representative from the cabinet if the party is in power.
b. Moderate Liberal Party
Unlike the enfeebled liberal movement in other Western European countries, Danish liberalism is an active and thriving force, undoubtedly the second strongest political movement in the nation. Danish liberalism is divided into two sections, lately of nearly equal strength. The parent party of the 19th century liberal movement, and until the mid-1960s clearly the most powerful, was the Moderate Liberal Party (MLP). The other section is represented by the Radical Liberal Party.
The Moderate Liberal Party corresponds to the farmers' parties in other Scandinavian countries and is the direct descendant of the Danish Agrarian Left of the middle years of the last century. It has been torn by factionalism throughout its history, suffering defections from both its left-wing and right-wing. Beginning about 1870, the Moderate Liberals were the main champions of parliamentary government, and it was primarily through their efforts that the King was finally impelled in 1901 to select a Cabinet which could command majority support within the lower house of parliament.
The Moderate Liberals became the dominant political formation in Denmark during the first quarter of the 20th century, but were obliged by the election of 1924 to yield this preeminent position to the Social Democrats. Since then the party, often in cooperation with the Conservative Party, has constituted the principal parliamentary opposition, with only a few brief intervals in power. During World War II it was a member of the National Coalition Government, in which all groups were represented, and during the years 1945-1947 it formed a minority government. Again, from 1950 to 1953 it ruled, this time forming a minority government with the Conservatives under Moderate Liberal Prime Minister Erik Eriksen; and in 1968 it joined with the Conservatives and Radical Liberals to serve under Prime Minister Hilmer Baunsgaard, a Radical Liberal.
Espousing the traditional liberal tenet of free trade, the Moderate Liberal Party has had a powerful appeal to the Danish farmer, who must sell abroad to survive. As demographic change has transformed Denmark from an agricultural to an urban society, the Moderate Liberals have tried to adjust accordingly. But despite the efforts of Poul Hartling, one of Denmark's liveliest and ablest politicians, the MLP was unable to maintain its electoral strength. There was a precipitous 25% decline in voter support between 1964 and 1971. Electoral strength since then has remained stable at nearly 16%, according to several polls conducted by the Danish Gallup affiliate. The MLP claimed some increased success at the ballot box in urban areas in 1971. The city dweller of liberal economic tendency, however, still tends to find the Conservative Party more congenial. With the disappearance of EC membership as an issue and the further constriction of the agricultural community, the MLP is searching for an identity that will enable it to remain a viable political force. One fairly significant plank in its platform that separates the MLP from the Conservatives is its support for strong government-sponsored social services. The Moderate Liberals consider themselves a kind of bourgeois welfare party. In keeping with their principle of individual responsibility, however, they would prefer that a greater contribution to such programs be made by those who benefit most from them.
The MLP still holds in theory that liberalism rather than socialism is the best guarantee for the preservation of economic and political freedom and individual rights. The party slogan is "Freedom with Responsibility."
The Moderate Liberals argue the cause of private ownership and management. They oppose increased taxation if it hinders production or private saving, and similarly they seek to cut back high customs duties. They maintain that free competition, as opposed to
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110016-6
