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Landsting | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 5 June 1849 (1849-06-05) |
| Disbanded | 5 June 1953 (1953-06-05) |
| Leadership | |
See list | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 76 |
 | |
Political groups | Last Government (35) Supported by (1) Opposition (39) Faroe Islands
|
Length of term | 8 years |
| Elections | |
| Indirect voting | |
First election | 1849 Danish Landsting election (da) |
Last election | 1953 Danish Landsting election (da) |
TheLandsting (Danish:Landstinget) was theupper house of theRigsdag, from 1849 until 1953, when thebicameral system was abolished in favour ofunicameralism. The Landsting had powers equal to theFolketing, which made the two houses of parliament hard to distinguish.
Originally, membership and the electorate was restricted, and the members were largelyconservatives. Membership of the house was then restricted to certain sectors of society: only men with a certain net worth could hold a seat. In 1915, these restrictions were removed, and a few new members were appointed by the existing members.
Ting (old Norse:þing) meansassembly. It first came into being duringViking times and was formed by thefreemen of the community, and it generally numbered about a hundred men. Tings were necessary in theclan-based society of Northern Germany andScandinavia, because they allowed for inter-clan wars to be resolved or prevented through themediation of the ting. It also served as the place for religious rites and trade negotiations.
The Landsting is also the Danish name for the modernParliament of Greenland.
Under theConstitution of 1849, the requirements for theright to vote was the same for the two houses, however therequirements for electability were stricter for the Landsting; candidates were limited to those of age 40 and above and they were required to have a substantial income.[1] The house originally had 51 members, all elected indirectly.[2] The voters elected a group of electors for eachconstituency, and the electors elected the members of the house. The members were elected for aterm of eight years; however, terms werestaggered so that half of the seats were up for election every four years.
With the Constitution of 1866, the electoral system was reformed. The number of members was increased to 66, of whom 12 were appointed bythe king for a period of twelve years, and one by theFaroeseLøgting.[3] The remaining 53 were elected indirectly.
InCopenhagen, half the electors were elected by the voters paying the largest amount of tax, and the other half by all the voters. In the rest of the country, one elector was elected by the voters in eachparish in the countryside and half as many electors were elected in themarket towns by the same system as in Copenhagen. Then for each elector elected in the parishes and the market towns, one elector was found among those that paid the greatest amount of tax in the parishes.[4] As the maindirect tax of the time was based onreal estate and its value asfarmland, this system greatly favouredmanor owners. The result was a conservative majority lasting 35 years, until the1902 election.[3]
The next reform of the electoral system came with the Constitution of 1915, and the first election under this system was the1918 election. Women weregiven the right to vote, the number of seats was increased to 72, the number of constituencies was reduced to seven, and the system of royally appointed members was replaced by 18 members elected by the resigning Landsting for a period of eight years.[5][6] The same year,Inger Gautier Schmit, along withNina Bang,Marie Christensen,Marie Hjelmer andOlga Knudsen, were the first women elected to the Landsting.[7]
Although a1939 referendum that would have replaced the Landsting with another chamber—the Rigsting—and simplified the legislative process, this failed due to a lowvoter turnout, and the bicameral system survived.[8] It would not be until 1953, following the approval of the current constitution in areferendum held that year, that the Landsting was finally abolished.
