Rigsdag

The Rigsdag was the name of the Parliament of Denmark from 1849 to 1953.

Related Topics:
Parliament - Denmark - 1849 - 1953

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The Rigsdag was Denmark's first parliament, and it was incorporated in the Constitution of 1849. It was a bicameral legislature, consisting of two houses, the Folketing and the Landsting. The distinction between the two houses was not always clear, as they had equal power. In 1953, a new constitution was approved by referendum and adopted, with the result that the Rigsdag and the Landsting were eliminated in favor of a unicameral legislature under the name of the Folketing. The Rigsdag, like today's Folketing, was located in Christiansborg Castle in the centre of Copenhagen.

Related Topics:
Constitution - 1849 - Bicameral legislature - Folketing - Landsting - 1953 - Unicameral - Christiansborg Castle - Copenhagen

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Membership in the Rigsdag was limited to certain sectors of society – women were not allowed to join, and neither were about a quarter of all men over 30, mostly due to their condition as servants or welfare recipients.

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The name, meaning roughly 'Imperial Council' or 'Imperial Day', is a cognate of the names of several legislatures in other Germanic countries, such as the Reichstag in Germany, the Riksdag in Sweden, or the Riksdag in Finland. (For a discussion of the traditional Germanic councils that gave root to bodies such as these, see the article on Ting-style councils.)

Related Topics:
Cognate - Reichstag - Germany - Riksdag - Sweden - Riksdag - Finland - Ting

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