Party and Coalition Policy in Denmark

Abstract

The most notable feature of Danish politics from our point of view, is the great frequency of minority governments. Since 1945 there have been only two governments with clear majorities in the Folketing — a coalition of Social Democrats, Radical Liberals and the small Justice Party that lasted from 1957 to 1960; and a coalition of Radical and Agrarian Liberals and Conservatives that lasted from 1968 to 71. We can add to these the de facto majority coalition from 1960–64 of Social Democrats and Radical Liberals, which had the support of one of the two Members for Greenland. These governments — all, significantly, from a 15-year period covering mainly the 1960s — are the only ones with a majority of legislative seats. All other postwar governments (excluding the 1945 government of national unity immediately after Liberation) have been minority administrations, often with a mere 30–40 per cent of legislative votes.