the Swedish Government
System

From east to west
500 km

SWEDEN
 Is a Constitutional Monarchy and
 a Parliamentary Democracy

Sweden
 The King is Head of State
..only performing ceremonial functions

Constitution
 The Instrument of Government
 Act of Succession
 Freedom of Press Act
 Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression

Questions
 Does a country need a Constitution?
 And, if so, why do it need a Constitution?
 3 most important parts of an Constitution?

A Parliament with a long history..
 1435 First Parliament
 1527 Parliament with representatives of the
Nobility, Clergy, Bourgousie and Farmers.
 1865 Bi-cameral system
 1921 Universal suffrage
 1971 One chamber system

Parliamentary democracy
 349 Members of Parliament
 Nominated by political parties
 General elections every 4th year
 Speaker of Parliament elected by the P
 Speaker of Parliament suggests new PM to the Parliament after elections

Members of Parliament
Are supposed to work fulltime as parliamentarians
Have salaries, office space and paid assistants.
Can travel for free within
Sweden
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Are provided with a small flat if he/she lives outside Stockholm
Are usually members of one or several
Committees

Dr L Levi (C)
THE OLDEST MP
DR LENNART LEVI

The Chamber of the Parliament

2006 - 2010 Parliament
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 Social Democrats 130
MP’s
Left Party 22 MP’s
Green Party 19 MP’s
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Conservative Party 97
MP’s
Center Party 29 MP’s
Liberal Party 28 MP’s
Christian Democratic
Party
24 MP’s

16 Standing Committees
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Constitution
Finance
Taxes
Defence
Foreign Affairs
Envir/Agriculture
Social Affairs
Education
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Transport
Social Insurances
Industry/Trade/Com
Culture
Civil Affairs
Justice
Labour Market
European Affairs

A Standing Committee
 17 Members of
Parliament
Seats according to the size of the party in the
Riksdag
 A Chancellery with some ten civil servants serving the Committee

Parliamentary democracy
 Parliament approves the new Prime Minister
 The Prime Minister forms the Cabinet
 All government decisions are made collectively by the Cabinet
 The Cabinet meet once every week
 Ministers are not allowed to take own decisions.

SWEDEN
Three levels of government:
 CENTRAL (STATE) GOVERNMENT
 REGIONAL GOVERNMENT
 LOCAL GOVERNMENT

State Government
 13 Ministries
 200 government agencies, boards and councils
 250 000 state employees (6 % of the total labour force)
 21 County Governors and administrations

Prime Minister
Fredrik Reinfeldt

Coalition government
”the Alliance”with 4 parties

Prime Minister’s Office
”Rosenbad”

Swedish Ministries
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Prime Minister’s Office
Finance
Industry
Labour Market
Justice
Culture
Environment
Social Affairs
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Defence
Integration and gender equality
Education
Foreign Affairs
Agriculture

State revenue SEK M
 Direct taxes 503 465 423
 Indirect taxes 407 068 494
 Taxes on capital 190 736 229
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Taxes on consumption 424 099 528
Other taxes and fees – 2 370 848
 Income from state companies 44 025 710
 Income from selling state assetts 50 000000

State budget 2010

Regional Government
21 COUNTIES
County Councils/Regional Boards
 Health care,
 Dental care,
 Culture,
 Regional planning and development

Regional political map

Local Government
 290 Municipalities
Housing, roads and streets, pre-schools, schools, care of elderly, physical planning, emergency services, transport and communication, social services, technical services

Financing of the public sector
 The State is financed by taxes, customs duties, fees
 County councils are financed by local taxes, fees and grants from central government
 Municipalities are financed by local taxes, fees and grants from central government

Control mechanisms
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The Transparency legislation
The Parliamentary Ombudsman
The National Auditors
The Standing Committee on the Constitution
The Chancellor of Justice
The Ombudsman against discrimination
Ethnicity and Religion, Gender, Disability, Sexual orientation, Age.

Control mechanisms
 Media
 Civil society
 Bloggers

Control of government, questions
 How can we control the politicians and the civil servants?
 Is transparency in government a solution?
 What are the limits?

Swedish inventions

Swedish Companies
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Ericsson Telecom
Volvo Vehicles/engines
Scania Vehicles/engines
SKF Ball bearings de Laval Agricultural equipm
Atlas Copco Mining equipment
LKAB Mining
IKEA Furniture/food

Well-known brands

Swedish export
 Machinery
 Wooden products
 Metal products (iron)
 Music
 Computer games
 Vehicles (Volvo, Saab)
 Telecom products

Sweden’s Coat of Arms

THANK YOU !