The Kanslergade Agreement (; da, Kanslergadeforliget) was a 1933 political agreement in Denmark, which laid the foundation for the Danish

welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equita ...

. It was enacted by the government of

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Thorvald Stauning Thorvald August Marinus Stauning (; 26 October 1873 in Copenhagen – 3 May 1942) was the first social democratic Prime Minister of Denmark. He served as Prime Minister from 1924 to 1926 and again from 1929 until his death in 1942. Under Stauni ...

, with social minister K.K. Steincke being its chief architect. The Kanslergade Agreement was negotiated in Stauning's apartment on Kanslergade in Copenhagen, from which it takes its name. The agreement was reached by Stauning's government, consisting of his own

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

and their coalition partner the Social Liberal Party, as well as the main opposition party the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, on 30 January 1933. The two governing parties held a narrow majority of 76 out of 149 seats in

Folketing The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands ...

et (the lower house of

Rigsdagen Rigsdagen () was the name of the national legislature of Denmark from 1849 to 1953. ''Rigsdagen'' was Denmark's first parliament, and it was incorporated in the Constitution of 1849. It was a bicameral legislature, consisting of two houses, th ...

). However, they only had 34 out of 76 seats in

Landstinget Landstinget was the upper house of the Rigsdag (the parliament of Denmark), from 1849 until 1953, when the bicameral system was abolished in favour of unicameralism. Landstinget had powers equal to the Folketing, which made the two houses of parl ...

(the upper house of Rigsdagen), and thus needed the support of the Liberals, who held 27 seats in Landstinget. The Kanslergade Agreement set in motion the reforms that would establish the Nordic model for state welfare services in Denmark. It expanded labor rights,

devalued In macroeconomics and modern monetary policy, a devaluation is an official lowering of the value of a country's currency within a fixed exchange-rate system, in which a monetary authority formally sets a lower exchange rate of the national curren ...

the krone, and extended state subsidies to farmers. Charges for social services were also fixed to affordable levels. As part of the agreement, the Liberal Party withdrew its objections to the social welfare model advocated by the government. The agreement was, at the time, the most extensive agreement yet in Danish politics, with the possible exception of the 1894 budget agreement.Skou, Kaare R. (2005). ''Dansk politik A-Å'' . Aschehoug, pp. 367-68. .

References

*Rerup, Lorenz (2007-04-30)
''Political extremism & emergency agreements''
Gyldendal Leksikon. Retrieved on 2007-12-03. 1933 in politics 1933 in Denmark Political history of Denmark {{Denmark-poli-stub

See also

References