Government
Type: Constitutional monarchy.
Constitution: The Swedish Constitution is based on four fundamental laws: the Instrument of Government (originally dating from June 6, 1809), the Act of Succession (1810), the Freedom of the Press Act (1949), and the Riksdag Act. Following partial reforms in 1968 and 1969, a new Instrument of Government and a new Riksdag Act were adopted in 1973 and 1974, and the revised Constitution came into force on January 1, 1975, replacing the Acts of 1809, 1866, and 1949.
Branches: Executive--monarch (head of state); prime minister (head of government); Cabinet, responsible to parliament. Legislative--unicameral parliament (Riksdag--349 members). Judicial--Supreme Court (6 superior courts; 108 lower courts).
Subdivisions: 21 counties, 288 municipalities (townships).
Political parties represented in parliament: Moderate (conservative), Liberal People's Party, Center, Christian Democratic, Social Democratic, Left (or V, formerly Communist), and Green.
Suffrage: Universal, 18 years of age. After 3 years of legal residence, immigrants may vote in county and municipal elections (but not in national elections).

SWEDEN GOVERNMENT
Popular government in Sweden rests upon ancient tradition. The Swedish parliament (Riksdag) stems from tribal courts (Ting) and the election of kings in the Viking age. It became a permanent institution in the 15th century. Sweden's government is a limited constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system. Executive authority is vested in the cabinet, which consists of a prime minister and 20 ministers who run the government departments. The present Alliance for Sweden government, led by Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, came to power in September 2006. King Carl XVI Gustaf (Bernadotte) ascended to the throne on September 15, 1973. His authority is formal, symbolic, and representational. The unicameral Riksdag has 349 members, popularly elected every 4 years, and is in session generally from September through mid-June.

Sweden is divided into 21 counties and 288 municipalities. Each county (län) is headed by a governor, who is appointed by the central government. Each county has a popularly elected council with the power of taxation, and each council has particular responsibility for education, public transportation, health, and medical care. Elected municipal councils are headed by executive committees roughly analogous to the boards of commissioners found in some U.S. cities.

Swedish law, drawing on Germanic, Roman, and Anglo-American law, is neither as codified as in France and other countries influenced by the Napoleonic Code, nor as dependent on judicial practice and precedents as in the United States. Legislative and judicial institutions include, in addition to the Riksdag, the Supreme Court, the Supreme Administrative Court, the Labor Court, Commissions of Inquiry, the Law Council, District Courts and Courts of Appeal, the Chief Public Prosecutor, the Bar Association, and ombudsmen who oversee the application of laws with particular attention to abuses of authority.

Principal Government Officials
Head of State--King Carl XVI Gustaf
Prime Minister (Head of Government)--Fredrik Reinfeldt
Minister for Finance--Anders Borg
Minister for the Environment--Andreas Carlgren
Minister for Justice--Beatrice Ask
Minister for Foreign Affairs--Carl Bildt
Minister for EU Affairs--Cecilia Malmström
Minister for Social Security--Cristina Husmark Pehrsson
Minister for Agriculture--Eskil Erlandsson
Minister for International Development Co-operation--Gunilla Carlsson
Minister for Social Affairs--Göran Hägglund
Minister for Schools--Jan Björklund
Minister for Education and Science--Lars Leijonborg
Minister for Culture--Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth
Minister for Elderly Care and Public Health--Maria Larsson
Minister for Local Government and Financial Markets--Mats Odell
Minister for Industry--Maud Olofsson
Minister for Defense--Mikael Odenberg
Minister for Integration and Gender Equality--Nyamko Sabuni
Minister for Foreign Trade--Sten Tolgfors
Minister for Employment--Sven Otto Littorin
Minister for Migration and Asylum Policy--Tobias Billström
Minister for Infrastructure--Åsa Torstensson

Ambassador to the United States--Jonas Hafstrom
Ambassador to the United Nations--Anders Liden

Sweden maintains an embassy in the United States at 2900 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 20007. Telephone: 202-467-2600, Internet: http://www.swedenabroad.com/washington

Consulates General are in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. There also are consulates in 31 other U.S. cities. Contact the embassy for locations and telephone numbers.

SWEDEN POLITICAL CONDITIONS
Ordinary general elections to the Swedish parliament are held every fourth year on the third Sunday in September. County council and municipal council elections take place at the same time. The last elections were held in September 2006. There is a barrier rule intended to prevent very small parties from gaining representation in the parliament. A party must thus receive at least 4% of the votes in the entire country or 12% in a single electoral district to qualify for any seats.

The September 2006 election was won by a coalition of four center-right parties (the Moderate Party, the Liberal People's Party, the Christian Democrats, and the Center Party) called the Alliance for Sweden. The 2006 election results for Sweden's major parties were as follows: the Social Democratic Party (34.99%; 130 seats), the Moderate Party (26.23%; 97 seats), the Center Party (7.88%; 29 seats), the Liberal People's Party (7.54%; 28 seats), the Christian Democrats (6.59%; 24 seats), the Left Party (5.85%; 22 seats), and the Green Party (5.24%; 19 seats).

The Social Democratic Party has a base of blue-collar workers, intellectuals, and public sector employees. It derives much of its power from strong links with the National Swedish Confederation of Trade Unions (LO), which represents around 90% of Sweden's blue-collar workers. The party program combines a commitment to social welfare programs and government direction of the economy.

The Moderate Party emphasizes personal freedom, free enterprise, and reduction of the public-sector growth rate, while still supporting most of the social benefits introduced since the 1930s. The party also supports a strong defense and Sweden's membership in the European Union (EU). Its voter base is urban business people and professionals, but the party also attracts young voters, main-street shop owners, and, to a modest extent, blue-collar workers.

The Center Party maintains close ties to rural Sweden. The main concerns of the Center Party are the elimination of nuclear power and increased centralization of governmental authority.

The Left Party, formerly the Communist Party, is today a party which expresses some of the traditional values of the social democrats but which also is focused on the environment and opposes Swedish membership in the EU. Its voter base consists mainly of public sector employees, journalists, and former social democrats.

The Christian Democrats have their voter base among those who belong to free churches--Methodists, Baptists, etc. They seek better ethical practices in government and the teaching of traditional values in the schools. They also want to improve care for the elderly and have an extensive family policy program. They strongly support Swedish membership in the EU and the European Monetary Union (EMU).

The Liberal People's Party's platform is "social responsibility without socialism," which includes a commitment to a free-market economy combined with comprehensive Swedish social welfare programs. Foreign aid and women's equality also are popular issues. The Liberal People's Party base is mainly centered in educated middle-class voters.

The Green Party is an environmentalist party that attracts young people. The party takes a strong stand against EU membership and wants a new referendum on the issue. The Greens support a phasing-out of nuclear energy in Sweden and hope to replace it with alternative, environmentally friendly energy sources.

When Sweden became a member of the EU in 1995, some argued that it went against Sweden's historic policy of neutrality (Sweden had not joined the EU during the Cold War because it was incompatible with neutrality). Others viewed the move as a natural extension of the economic cooperation that had been going on since 1972 with the EU. Sweden addressed this controversy by reserving the right not to participate in any future EU defense alliance. Sweden also reserved the right to make the final decision on whether to join the third stage of the EMU (a common currency and central bank) "in light of continued developments."

Although many Swedes have publicly expressed their dissatisfaction with membership in the EU, main Swedish concerns include winning popular support for EU cooperation, EU enlargement, and strengthening the EU in areas such as economic growth, job promotion, and environmental issues.

Sweden is a member of the UN and some of its specialized and related agencies, including the World Bank, World Trade Organization (WTO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Labor Organization (ILO), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (USESCO), World Health Organization (WHO) and others; also of the EU, European Free Trade Association (EFTA), Council of Europe, and others. Sweden is a member of NATO's Partnership for Peace and participates in numerous international peacekeeping operations.