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The Government

The Government governs the country via their ministries and according to the laws passed by Parliament.

Større

How a government is formed

At least once every 4 years there must be a general election. When the election has been held and the seats have been distributed, the new Parliament is established. Following this, the next step is to figure out who will be Prime Minister and form a government.

In a so-called »King’s Round«, representatives from each political party take turns advising the monarch on who should be the Prime Minister. Subsequently, the monarch appoints a person who either:

  • gets the task of forming a government and becoming Prime Minister, or
  • can lead the negotiations on who should become the Prime Minister

When the Prime Minister and the ministers have been appointed, the monarch officially declares the government. The Parliament does not formally approve the new government.

Minority governments must ensure parliamentary support

Denmark often has a minority government. This means that the government does not on its own hold a majority of 90 or more parliament seats. Therefore, it must find parties that will support its policies so that it does not have a majority voting against it.

If a party supports a new Prime Minister, this does not necessarily mean that the party will be part of the government – nor does it mean that it will vote in favour of all the government’s bills. But by supporting the new Prime Minister, the party can show that it:

  • does not intend to overturn the government
  • will help the government secure a majority for its policies

This is called being a government’s parliamentary support.

The government depends on the support of Parliament

The parliamentary support is a policy declaration

The parties in a new government will come together and write a government platform. This is a kind of policy declaration. In this, the government signals which policies it wishes to implement in the coming governmental term.

Every parliamentary year, the government presents a catalogue of laws. In this are listed the suggestions for new laws for which the government anticipates a majority support. With the catalogue of laws, the government transforms its general politics into specific initiatives. 

The Prime Minister

The role of Prime Minister is the most powerful position in the country. The Prime Minister has a particularly large amount of power and a particularly large amount of responsibility. For example, it is only the Prime Minister who can decide when to call the next general election within the 4-year governmental term.

There are no formal requirements for a politician who wants to be Prime Minister. For example, you do not have to have a law degree or anything else. You do not even have to have any formal education at all.

The Prime Minister is usually the leader of one of the major parties in Parliament and a member of Parliament.

A newly elected Prime Minister selects the group of new ministers. The Prime Minister decides which ministries should exist and which people should hold which ministerial posts. Most of the appointed ministers have also been elected for Parliament. But they do not have to be members of Parliament.

A re-elected Prime Minister will often adjust the team of ministers. New ministers may be appointed and maybe some of the existing ministers are moved to another subject area. Some ministries may be combined while areas of politics seen by the government as particularly important may get their own ministry.

Only the Prime Minister can dismiss/replace ministers.

The Prime Minister must:

  • keep the different threads of the government together, so the ministries appear to agree on the politics of the government, even if they come from different parties
  • make sure the political alliances between the government parties and the supporting parties are secured

The Prime Minister holds many coordinating meetings, both with the leaders of the government parties and with the ministers.

The government committees are a kind of political engine room. In these, the ministers work together on the government’s policies and political initiatives. The number of committees and their duties vary from government to government. The Prime Minister decides which committees are established and potentially eliminated. The most important committees are:

  • The Coordination Committee, who coordinate the government’s more significant political initiatives and proposed legislation
  • The Financial Committee, who coordinate the government’s overall financial politics

It is almost never the Prime Minister who presents concrete proposed legislation. The ministers for each specific area are in charge of this. 

The Prime Minister spends a lot of time keeping up internationally and handling difficult international tasks on behalf of Denmark and sometimes on behalf of all of the EU cooperation.

The Prime Minister often represents Denmark at e.g., EU and NATO summits.

In the field of international politics, the Prime Minister's Office works closely with other relevant ministries, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence.

The ministers

The government ministers each have their subject area. The Minister for Culture is responsible for the subject of culture, the Minister for Taxation is responsible for taxes, etc. Most ministerial subjects are somewhat fixed. For example, there is in practice always a Ministry of Justice and a Ministry of Finance. 

The Constitutional Act does not state anything about the requirements for becoming a minister. Like the Prime Minister, ministers do not need a certain education – or any education at all.

A minister also does not need to be a member of Parliament. If a minister is not a member of Parliament, they can attend negotiations in Parliament, but they cannot vote. In order to vote, you must be elected to Parliament.

A minister’s work consists of, for example:

  • presenting new proposed legislation within their ministerial subjects
  • negotiating the content of new laws
  • answering questions from Parliament, for example, from the parliamentary committees
  • answering inquiries from citizens, organizations, etc.
  • informing the public of the work of the ministry, for example through interviews or press releases
  • making decisions in the ministry and making sure the ministry works efficiently
  • collaborating with international parties, including the EU
  • participating in weekly ministerial meetings with the rest of the ministers
  • participating in state council meetings and governmental committees
  • participating in government seminars

The ministry employees help plan the many meetings and activities which make up a minister’s day. They also advise the minister on specialist questions.

The key issues of a minister largely depend on what the minister and the minister’s party see as politically important.

The minister will follow the government’s general political goals and visions. These are stated in the policy declaration and can be more or less detailed. Within these limits, a minister may pursue their own political beliefs in their work as minister.

Through negotiations with the parties, a minister will usually make sure there is a majority in favour of the proposed legislation before they are processed in Parliament.

A political settlement or a political agreement is a text that the government parties and other Parliament parties have agreed on as a result of their negotiations.

There are no official rules for how a settlement must be worded or structured. The scope of political settlements is based on a collection of unwritten rules and norms. The parties are thereby politically, but not legally, obliged to comply with the settlements and agreements they have entered.

Ministerial accountability

A minister is always accountable for the ways in which the minister and the ministry employ their power. It is the responsibility of the minister to make sure that everything that happens within the jurisdiction of the ministry does not break any laws. This political accountability is described in the Constitutional Act, while the legal accountability is described in the Ministerial Accountability Act.

Correct information is of crucial importance

A minister must not give Parliament any false or misleading information. During the Parliament’s processing of a case, a minister also must not conceal any information that is important in the Parliament’s view of the case.

Parliament has few resources in collection and processing the necessary information connected with the legislative work. For this reason, Parliament is completely dependent on the government and the various ministries providing correct and complete information. Otherwise, Parliament may end up making decisions and passing legislation under false assumptions.

Parliament has the option of sanctions

If the majority of Parliament believe that something in the government’s performance of their offices, or if Parliament has not received the correct and complete information, there are different options for sanctions.

Parliament may:

  • criticize a minister’s performance of their office (this is called giving the minister a »nose«)
  • overturn the minister or the entire government by stating that they no longer have confidence in the minister or the government (or passing a vote of no confidence)
  • establish a commission of inquiry to examine an especially serious case
  • establish a commission of scrutiny to examine an especially serious case
  • decide to charge the minister in the Court of Impeachment, if Parliament believes that the minister has done something punishable in their performance of office

If the majority of Parliament believes that a minister has acted in the wrong, Parliament or one of the parliamentary committees may pass a decision that criticizes the minister. This critique is called »giving a nose« by the media.

The nose is used by Parliament members to reprove a minister. But it has no legal meaning, and the critique will not force a minister to resign. It is, however, a strong political signal.

If a majority of Parliament expresses that they do not have confidence in a minister, the minister must resign, even if the minister had not done anything punishable. Solely the fact that a majority of Parliament does not have confidence in the minister is enough. This is stated in the Constitutional Act.

Parliament does not have to give a reason for their lack of confidence. In practice, however, the majority of Parliament will often give the reason for their lack of confidence that the minister has not complied with their accountability. It could for example be the case that Parliament says that the minister has given Parliament wrongful information or withheld important information.

If a majority of Parliament expresses a lack of confidence in the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister may either call a general election or the government can resign. Then the existing Parliament must form a new government together.

It only happened 3 times in the 20th century that Parliament passed a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister and thereby the government.

Parliament or the Minister for Justice may decide to establish a commission of inquiry who will examine and explain the chain of events in a specific case. The commission may also be asked to consider if there are potential grounds for creating a case in which someone is potentially held legally responsible.

When Parliament or the Minister for Justice has decided to establish a commission of inquiry, it is in practice the Minister for Justice who will appoint the members and chair of the commission. The members must be impartial and independent of the authorities and persons involved in the inquiry.

The Minister for Justice also decides what the commission will examine. If the commission of inquiry was initiated in Parliament, Parliament is also involved.

The work in a commission of inquiry often spans several years. When the work is finished, the commission submits a commission report. This outlines the results of the inquiry.

A commission of inquiry has no judicial authority. It can explain what actually happened, but it cannot pass judgment on the case. The government decides, on the basis of the commission report, if any government officials will be held responsible.

If the commission’s account involves a minister’s performance of their office, Parliament must process it with regards to determining whether there are reasons to hold the minister responsible.

Parliament may examine the actions of a minister by establishing a commission of scrutiny. Commissions of scrutiny are anchored in Parliament. It is Parliament itself who initiates the examination and decides what the commission will examine. The purpose is to examine cases that have received critical attention in the public or in Parliament. 

Parliament will appoint the members of the commission and question them. A commission of scrutiny must have 3 impartial and independent members. At least 2 of them must be judges.

The examination cannot last longer than a year. For that reason, commissions of scrutiny are often completed faster and with a more limited subject area than commissions of inquiry.

When the examination is complete, Parliament will receive a report with the results.

The commission of scrutiny may examine and describe a chain of events, but it may not pass judgment. If a minister is to be held responsible, Parliament must subsequently act on this.

If Parliament suspects a minister of having done something outright illegal in the performance of their office, Parliament can demand that the minister is tried in the Court of Impeachment.