3. POLITICAL HISTORY
Viking Age
During the Viking Age, c. 800-1100, a strong royal power developed, as is demonstrated for
instance by several strategically placed circular fortresses of impressive size.
1015-1034 England under Danish rule
The Kalmar Union
The main political event of the period was the establishment of the Kalmar Union in
1397, combining Denmark, Norway and Sweden in a personal union under the Danish Queen
Margrete I
Absolutism
In 1660-1661, by coup-like means, the old elective monarchy dominated by the aristocracy was
replaced by a hereditary monarchy. The new hereditary king, Frederik III, and his successors
gained absolute power.
Democracy and the Schleswig Issue
As the national movements developed, the duchies‟ position within the monarchy became a key
issue until 1864. Almost a third of the nation‟s population was German.
4. Abolition of Absolutism and First liberal constitution
Frederik VII declaring himself constitutional king, thereby paving the way for a democratic
constitution which was codified in The Constitution of the Kingdom of Denmark of 5 June
1849.
The ceding of the duchies
In 1863, the Danish parliament passed the November Constitution which in practice
separated Holstein and Lauenburg from the kingdom while incorporating Schleswig,
This triggered a war with Germany and the outcome was a humiliating Danish defeat in 1864
and the ceding of all three duchies
The Hope of Regeneration
With the loss of the duchies, Denmark had become smaller than ever. From this nadir the
work of national regeneration started with the motto ‘outward losses must be compensated
by inward gains’
Neutrality and Occupation
Denmark remained neutral during World War I
Hitler seized power in Germany in 1933. On 9 April 1940, German troops „peacefully‟
occupied Denmark.
Unicameral
From 1849 to 1953 the Folketing was one of the two houses in the bicameral parliament
known as the Rigsdag; the other house was known as the Landsting.
n 1953 the people by popular vote adopted a revised constitution. Among the changes was
5. FACTS ABOUT DENMARK
Population: 5.564.219 (2011)
Area: 43.098 square kilometers
Gross domestic product: DKK 1.656 billion (2009)
Capital: Copenhagen 1.702.388 (2011)
Language: Danish
Religion: Danish National Evangelical Lutheran Church 80.7%,
Currency: Danish Kroner, DKK. 1 Krone = 100 Øre (5.3 DKK = 1
USD, 2011)
Member of: UN, OECD, EU, Nato, Schengen, OSCE, IMF, WTO and
others
7. GOVERNMENT
• The Kingdom of Denmark has two autonomous provinces, Faroe
Islands and Greenland.
• Government:
Constitutional monarchy
Follows a multi-party system
Constitution: June 5, 1953
• Executive:
Head of the State – Queen Margrethe II
Head of Government – Statsminister Helle Thorning-Schmidt (Social Democrat)
Cabinet Ministers
• Legislative:
Unicameral Parliament – Folketing
8. • Judiciary: • Election – Every 4 years;
Supreme Court Proportional Representation
Two high courts Voting age is at least 18 years
Seceral special courts
old.
Election participation is 80-85
24 local courts
percent
• Political Parties:
Venstre (Liberal)
• Administrative region:
Social Democratic
Danish People‟s Hovedstaden
Social Liberal Midtjylland
Socialist People‟s Nordjylland
Unity List Sjælland
Liberal Alliance
Syddanmark
Conservative
9. QUEEN MARGRETHE II
• Head of the State
• Official representative of
Denmark
• Purely ceremonial power
• No political power
10. Statsminister Helle Thorning-Schmidt
• First Female Statsminister
(Prime Minister)
• Elected in October 2011
• From the Social Democrat
Party
• Has been leader of the
Danish Social
Democrats since April 2005
• Served as a Member of the
European Parliament from
1999 to 2004
11. FOLKETING
179 seats – 135 seats from
constituencies, 40 supplementary
seats, and two from Faroe Islands and
another two from Greenland
The Danish electoral system comprises a
threshold rule which means that parties
which obtain less than 2 per cent of the
valid votes cast do not have a share in the
supplementary seats.
12. Party % Seats
Liberals (B) 24.8% 47
Social Democrats (R) 12.3% 44
Danish People's Party (B) 9.5% 22
Social Liberal Party (R) 9.2% 17
Socialist People's Party (R) 6.7% 16
Red-Green Alliance (R) 5.0% 12
Liberal Alliance (B) 4.9% 9
Conservative People's Party(B) 0.8% 8
Christian Democrats (B) 0.1% 0
Red Alliance (R) Helle Thorning-Schmidt 50.2%
Blue Alliance (B) Lars Løkke Rasmussen 49.8%
13. JUDICIAL SYSTEM
SUPREME COURT (Højesteret)
SPECIAL COURTS The High Court of Western The High Court of
Denmark (Vestre Landsret) Eastern Denmark (Østre
Landsret)
24 LOCAL COURTS
14. ECONOMY
Denmark‟s economy mainly focused on its human resources.
It has Europe‟s most flexible market
Denmark has a highly developed welfare safety net, which ensures
that all Danes receive free health care and social benefits.
The large public sector (30% of the entire workforce work for the
state) is financed by the one of the world's highest taxes. A Value
Added Tax of 25% is levied on the sale of most goods and services
(including groceries). The income tax in Denmark ranges from 42%
to 63% progressively.
With its economy open to global trade and investment, Denmark
benefits from high degrees of business freedom, investment
freedom, and financial freedom.
15. THE DANISH MODEL
Flexicurity
Compound words of flexible and security
Golden Triangle
Flexible
Security Active Labour
Market
• Flexible rules for hiring and firing – easy for employers to
dismiss employees during downturns and hire new staff when
things improve
• Unemployment security in the form of a guarantee for a legally
specified unemployment benefit at a relatively high level ‐ up
to 90% for the lowest paid workers.
• Labour Market Policy - An effective system is in place to offer
guidance, a job or education to all unemployed.
16. TRADITION
Not one but two National Anthems
1. „Der er et yndigt land‟ (There is a lovely land) is the
civil national anthem of Denmark.
2. The other, „Kong Christian stod ved højen mast‟ (King
Christian stood by the lofty mast) has equal status but
is mainly used for royal and military occasions.
17. LIFESTYLE
Sustainable City
Mayors, town planners and politicians from all
over the world have visited Copenhagen often
in recent years to study its bicycle traffic, district
heating system or its waste management.
18. GREENLIFE
Danish Biking Culture
Copenhagen is world famous for its biking culture
and now officially the first Bike City in the World.
Last year, it was also voted the „Best city for
cyclists‟ and the „World‟s most livable city. It really
is biking heaven for the cyclist in Copenhagen
with over 390 kilometers of designated bike
lanes.
19. INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT
DENMARK
• Faroe Islands used to belong to Norway, but not any more - Norway
lost the islands after the King of Norway has lost drunken poker
game with King of Denmark.
• In 1989 Denmark become the very first European country to
legalize same-sex marriages and offer for gay partnership the same
rights as for heterosexual couples.
• Copenhagen's Tivoli amusement park is one of biggest and popular
in Europe. Actually it is one of the oldest amusement parks in the
world.
• Among other things Danish people have invented the widely
known children playthings LEGO.
• Most Famous Danes is writer Hans Christian Andersen, whose
fairy tales have been translated into more languages then any
other book in the whole world
20. DENMARK AND THE EU
Since joining the EEC/EU in 1973 after a referendum where 63.3%
voted in favour of membership,.
Denmark has worked for transparency in the EU decision-
making, the inclusion of environmental concerns in all
decisions, the creation of more jobs in Europe and the opening up
of the EU to, among others, Central and Eastern Europe so that it
does not become “a club for the rich”.
With more than 1000 UN employees, Copenhagen is the world‟s
sixth largest UN city.
On the 9th of November, Danish Minister for Development
Cooperation will cut the first sod for the new UN building that will
bring together all UN staff members in the Danish capital under the
same roof.
Faroe Islands and Greenland is not included in the EU
