The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden () is the national cabinet of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, and the country's executive authority. The Government consists of the

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

and their cabinet ministers (). The Government is responsible for its actions to the Riksdag. The Prime Minister is nominated by the

Speaker of the Riksdag The speaker of the Riksdag () is the speaker (politics), presiding officer of the national unicameral legislature in Sweden. The Riksdag underwent profound changes in 1867, when the medieval Riksdag of the Estates was abolished. The new form of ...

, and is elected and discharged by vote of the

Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...

. The cabinet ministers are appointed and dismissed at the discretion of the Prime Minister. The Speaker shall discharge cabinet ministers that have lost a vote of confidence in the Riksdag. The short-form name ' ("the Government") is used both in the

Basic Laws of Sweden The Basic Laws of Sweden () are the four constitutional laws of the Kingdom of Sweden that regulate the Swedish political system, acting in a similar manner to the constitutions of most countries. These four laws are: the Instrument of Governme ...

and in the vernacular, while the long-form is only used in international treaties.

Organization

The Government governs the country and is responsible for its actions to the Riksdag. The Government consists of the

and other cabinet ministers (), and operates as a collegial body with collective responsibility.

The Prime Minister

The Prime Minister is nominated by the

, following formal consultations with representatives of the partygroups of the Riksdag. Within four days, the Riksdag proceeds to a vote on the proposal. Unless more than half of the members of the Riksdag vote against the proposal, the nominee is approved and the Speaker proceeds to appoint their nominee as Prime Minister. Thus, the Prime Minister may be elected without a majority of the Riksdag voting for them. The Prime Minister may appoint a designated Deputy among their ministers, to deputise for them in case of absence. Failing to do so, or in the case of the Deputy being unable to deputise at a given time, the Prime Minister's duties will be assumed by the minister currently in office that has served as minister for the longest period of time.

The Cabinet Ministers and Heads of Ministries

The Prime Minister appoints their cabinet ministers, organizes the Government Office into ministries (Swedish: ''departement''), and appoints heads of ministries among their cabinet ministers. Cabinet ministers are dismissed at the discretion of the Prime Minister or, by law, at the request of the minister themself. The Riksdag may vote to declare that a minister not longer enjoys the Riksdag's confidence. In such a case, the Speaker discharges said minister.

Role of the Head of State

The constitutional head of state is the ruling

Swedish Monarch The monarchy of Sweden is centred on the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the #IOG, Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. by law a constitutional monarchy, constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parl ...

. Following the adoption of the

1974 Instrument of Government The Basic Laws of Sweden () are the four constitutional laws of the Kingdom of Sweden that regulate the Swedish political system, acting in a similar manner to the constitutions of most countries. These four laws are: the Instrument of Governme ...

on 1 January 1975, the monarch is no longer vested with any executive powers at all with respect to the governance of the Realm, be it nominal or formal powers. They continue to serve as a strictly ceremonial

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

. The Prime Minister shall keep the Head of State informed regarding the country's affairs. The Head of State chairs the Council of State, which meets at the convening of the Government. The change of hands of government takes effect at such a Council of State.

History

The present Government is formed according to the laws set out in the

. But it traces its history back to the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

when the

Privy Council of Sweden The Council of the Realm, or simply The Council ( or : sometimes in ), was a cabinet of medieval origin, consisting of magnates () which advised, and at times co-ruled with, the King of Sweden. The 1634 Instrument of Government, Sweden's fir ...

was formed in the 12th century. It functioned in this capacity until 1789 when King Gustav III had it abolished when the Riksdag passed the Union and Security Act. The old privy council had only had members from the

aristocracy Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense Economy, economic, Politics, political, and soc ...

. Gustav III instead instituted . It functioned as the Government until 1809 when a new

Instrument of Government The Instrument of Government was the first constitution of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland and was also the first codified and written constitution in England. It was drafted by Major-General John Lambert in 1653. Anteced ...

was introduced, thus creating the present government's predecessor, the

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

. It acted as the Government of Sweden until 31 December 1974.

Role and scope

The Government has a stronger constitutional position than the cabinets in the other Scandinavian monarchies. This is because under the

()—one of the Fundamental Laws of the Realm—the Government is both the ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' (; ; ) describes practices that are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. The phrase is often used in contrast with '' de facto'' ('from fa ...

'' and '' de facto'' executive authority in Sweden. In Denmark and Norway, the monarch is at least the nominal chief executive, but is bound by convention to act on the advice of the cabinet. However, Chapter 1, Article 6 of the Instrument of Government explicitly states: The Instrument of Government sets out the main responsibilities and duties of the Government (including the Prime Minister's and other cabinet ministers') and how it relates to other organs of the State. Most state administrative authorities (), as opposed to local authorities (), sorts under the Government, including the

Armed Forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

, Customs Service and the

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

. While the

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

technically sort under the Government in the fiscal sense, Chapter 11 of the Instrument of Government provides safeguards to ensure its independence. In a unique feature of the Swedish constitutional system, individual cabinet ministers ''do not bear any''

individual ministerial responsibility In Westminster-style governments, individual ministerial responsibility is a constitutional convention that a cabinet minister bears the ultimate responsibility for the actions of their ministry or department. Individual ministerial responsi ...

for the performance of the agencies within their portfolio; as the director-generals and other heads of government agencies report directly to the Government as a whole, the ministers also cannot intervene in matters that are to be handled by the specific government agencies, unless otherwise provided for in law; thus the origin of the pejorative, in Swedish political parlance, '' ministerstyre'' (English: "ministerial rule").

High Contracting Party

Croatia-EU Accession Treaty Signature Page 7

The Government of Sweden is the high contracting party when entering

treaties A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

with foreign

sovereign state A sovereign state is a State (polity), state that has the highest authority over a territory. It is commonly understood that Sovereignty#Sovereignty and independence, a sovereign state is independent. When referring to a specific polity, the ter ...

s and

international organisations An international organization, also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is an organization that is established by a treaty or other type of instrument governed by international law and possesses its own leg ...

(such as the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

), as per 10:1 of the Instrument of Government. In most other parliamentary systems (monarchies and republics alike) this formal function is usually vested in the

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

but exercised by ministers in such name.

Promulgation

Chapter 7, Article 7 prescribes that laws and ordinances are promulgated by the Government (by the Prime Minister or other cabinet minister), and are subsequently published in the

Swedish Code of Statutes The Swedish Code of Statutes (, Swedish law collection; SFS) contains the chronological session laws of the Riksdag, regulations of the Government, and ordinances, collectively called . SFS numbers Every document has an SFS number, including le ...

().

Formation and dismissal

Following a

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

begins to hold talks with the leaders of the parties with representation in the

, the Speaker then nominates a candidate for

(). The nomination is then put to a vote in the chamber. Unless an absolute majority of the members (175 members) votes "no", the nomination is confirmed, otherwise it is rejected. The Speaker must then find a new nominee. This means the Riksdag can consent to a Prime Minister without casting any "yes" votes. After being elected the Prime Minister appoints the cabinet ministers and announces them to the Riksdag. Prospective ministers do not have to be sitting members of the Riksdag, but if one accepts a nomination, they would surrender their seat to a substitute member. The new Government takes office at a special council held at the Royal Palace before the

monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...

, at which the Speaker of the Riksdag formally announces to the monarch that the Riksdag has elected a new Prime Minister and that the Prime Minister has chosen his cabinet ministers. The Riksdag can cast a

vote of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

against any single cabinet minister (), thus forcing a resignation. To succeed a vote of no confidence must be supported by an absolute majority (175 members) or it has failed. If a vote of no confidence is cast against the Prime Minister this means the entire government is rejected. A losing government has one week to call for a general election or else the procedure of nominating a new Prime Minister starts anew.

Cabinets

Present Cabinet

Former cabinets

Each appointment of a new Prime Minister is considered to result in a new cabinet, irrespective if the Prime Minister is reappointed or not. However, there is no automatic resignation following a defeat in a

, so an election does not always result in a new cabinet.

Government Offices

Previously known as the Royal Chancery (), the name was changed to the Government Offices () on 1 January 1975 with the current

entering into effect. The Instrument of Government briefly mentions in Chapter 7, Article 1 that there is a staff organization supporting the Government known as the Government Offices. The present organizational charter for the Government Offices is found in the ordinance named ''Förordning (1996:1515) med instruktion för Regeringskansliet''. Since the issuance of that ordinance in 1996, all the ministries are technically entities within the Government Offices (headed by the

), rather than as separate organisations even though they operate as such. Below follows a short summary of the current structure.

References

Notes

;Bibliography * *

External links

Official siteInstrument of Government 1974 (in English)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweden European governments Cabinets 1975 establishments in Sweden