2005/11/01 by Karina Kosiara‐Pedersen · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #European and International Law Studies #Political Systems and Governance
paper · doi:10.1080/01402380500311848
openalex publication_date 2005/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
On 18 January 2005, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen called for a general election to be held on 8 February 2005, nine months before the deadline for the next election. Political themes are usually cited when calling Danish elections, but this time the calendar was used as an excuse: because of major reforms to the municipal structure, a significant amount of legislation had to be negotiated and settled in the spring, and it was unclear whether this could be done by June, thereby hindering an election in late spring; and an election in September could possibly overshadow the important elections to the new municipal councils (created as a result of the reform) in November. Nevertheless, favourable opinion polls undoubtedly also played a major role when the Prime Minister asked the Danes to renew and extend the mandate of his Liberal–Conservative (aka Venstre–Conservative) coalition government.