ns: the monarch is hereditary; following legislative
elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the
majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the monarch

Legislative branch:

unicameral People's Assembly or Folketinget (179 seats, including 2
from Greenland and 2 from the Faroe Islands; members are elected by
popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve
four-year terms unless the Folketinget is dissolved earlier)
elections: last held 13 November 2007 (next to be held in 2011)
election results: percent of vote by party - Liberal Party 26.2%,
Social Democrats 25.5%, Danish People's Party 13.9%, Socialist
People's Party 13.0%, Conservative People's Party 10.4%, Social
Liberal Party 5.1%, New Alliance 2.8%, Red-Green Alliance 2.2%,
other 0.9%; seats by party - Liberal Party 46, Social Democrats 45,
Danish People's Party 25, Socialist People's Party 23, Conservative
People's Party 18, Social Liberal Party 9, New Alliance 5, Red-Green
Alliance 4; note - does not include the two seats from Greenland and
the two seats from the Faroe Islands

Judicial branch:

Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the monarch for life)

Political parties and leaders:

Christian Democrats [Bjarne Hartung KIRKEGAARD] (was Christian
People's Party); Conservative Party [Bendt BENDTSEN] (sometimes
known as Conservative People's Party); Danish People's Party [Pia
KJAERSGAARD]; Liberal Party [Anders Fogh RASMUSSEN]; New Alliance
[Naser KHADER]; Red-Green Unity List (Alliance) [collective
leadership] (bloc includes Left Socialist Party, Communist Party of
Denmark, Socialist Workers' Party); Social Democratic Party [Helle
THORNING-SCHMIDT]; Social Liberal Party [Margrethe VESTAGER];
Socialist People's Party [Villy SOEVNDAL]

Political pressure groups and leaders:

Danish Free Press Society (freedom of speech); Danish National
Socialist Movement or DNSB [Jonni HANSEN] (neo-Nazi organization)
other: human rights groups

International organization participation:

ADB (nonregional members), AfDB (nonregional members), Arctic
Council, Australia Group, BIS, CBSS, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, ESA,
EU, FAO, G-9, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA,
IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU,
ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MONUC, NATO, NC, NEA, NIB, NSG, OAS
(observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, Schengen Convention,
UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR