Denmark: Traditions and Practices

Danish cabinet government is founded on consensus, a multi-party coalition government with a negotiative style of decision making, where changes are small and there are few ideological divisions within the polity. It has a system of ministerial government, with ministers meeting in cabinet. However, the core business was normally undertaken in two cabinet committees: the Coordination Committee, chaired by the prime minister, and the Economic Committee, chaired by the minister of finance, traditionally from the same party as the prime minister. These two, assisted by the heads of their departments, sit at the centre of government, but they can act only with the support of the committees they chair which contain the leaders, or senior representatives, of other parties in the coalitions. This duopoly was the key for a long time, although under a minority Social Democrat government since 2019, the dynamics are changing.