Government of Sweden
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The government of Sweden is a constitutional monarchy with a representative democracy based on a parliamentary system. Its affairs are directed by a cabinet of ministers, which is led by a Prime Minister. The cabinet and the Prime Minister are responsible for their actions to the Riksdag.
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[edit] Head of Government
Head of Government: Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt
Cabinet: Ministers are appointed by the Prime Minister and confirmed by Parliament.
Elections: The Prime Minister is first appointed by the Speaker of Parliament and then confirmed (with the cabinet ministers) by Parliament.
Election results 2006: Fredrik Reinfeldt (Moderate Party) elected Prime Minister on October 5, 2006 after the victory for Alliance for Sweden in the Swedish general election, 2006. The new government was presented on October 6, 2006.
[edit] Cabinet Government
The current cabinet has 22 ministers including the prime minister. The number is however not established by law, but entirely the prime minister's choice. During parts of the 2000s, the Guinness World Records declared Sweden's cabinet to be the most equal in the world, with 11 out of 22 cabinet members being women.
The prime minister leads the work of the cabinet and is the official Head of Government. On occasion there have been appointed deputy prime ministers; when none such exist, the minister with the most seniority in the cabinet is the designate deputy prime minister.
The government is divided into a number of offices or ministries. Presently there are thirteen such offices but this number is also not established by law. Thus, some ministers also serve as Head of Office, while others have subordinate tasks within some of the larger ministries.
Cabinet members who are Riksdag members (which is not a requirement but the most common situation), including the prime minister, resign their seats in the Riksdag while holding cabinet office and are replaced by substitutes from the same party. Upon their visits to the Riksdag, like the weekly question time, the ministers sit at specially designated seats in the lower left hand corner of the session hall.
[edit] Government Ministries and Offices
- Government Offices (Swedish: Regeringskansliet) [1]
- Prime Minister's Office (Swedish: Statsrådsberedningen)
- Ministry of Justice (Swedish: Justitiedepartementet)
- Ministry for Foreign Affairs (Swedish: Utrikesdepartementet)
- Ministry of Defence (Swedish: Försvarsdepartementet)
- Ministry of Health and Social Affairs (Swedish: Socialdepartementet)
- Ministry of Finance (Swedish: Finansdepartementet)
- Ministry of Education, Research and Culture (Swedish: Utbildnings- och kulturdepartementet)
- Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Affairs (Swedish: Jordbruksdepartementet)
- Ministry of Sustainable Development (Swedish: Miljö- och samhällsbyggnadsdepartementet)
- Ministry of Industry, Employment and Communications (Swedish: Näringsdepartementet)
- Office for Administrative Affairs (Swedish: Förvaltningsavdelningen)
- Permanent Representation of Sweden to the EU (Swedish: EU-representationen)
[edit] New Ministries
Following the victory for the parties in the Alliance for Sweden in the 2006 general election a reshuffling of the government ministries and offices is underway. The following changes have been proposed:
- A new Ministry of Culture, this portfolio belonged to a minister at the Ministry of Education and Culture in the Göran Perssons Cabinet
- A new Ministry for Employment, this portfolio belonged to a minister at the Ministry of Industry, Employment and Communications in the Göran Perssons Cabinet
- A new Ministry of Integration, the portfolio belonged to a minister under the Ministry of Justice and Ministry for Foreign Affairs in the Göran Perssons Cabinet.
- The Ministry of Sustainable Development will be renamed the Ministry of Environment.
[edit] Present Cabinet
- see also: History of Government Offices of Sweden and List of cabinets of Sweden for old governments.
Portfolio | Minister | Party | Picture |
---|---|---|---|
Prime Minister's Office | |||
Prime Minister, Head of the Prime Minister's Office |
Fredrik Reinfeldt | Moderate Party | |
Minister for EU Affairs | Cecilia Malmström | Liberal People's Party | |
Ministry of Justice | |||
Minister for Justice, Head of the Ministry of Justice |
Beatrice Ask | Moderate Party | |
Minister for Migration and Asylum Policy | Tobias Billström | Moderate Party | |
Ministry for Foreign Affairs | |||
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Head of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs |
Carl Bildt | Moderate Party | |
Minister for Foreign Trade | Sten Tolgfors | Moderate Party | |
Minister for International Development Cooperation | Gunilla Carlsson | Moderate Party | |
Ministry of Defence | |||
Minister for Defence, Head of the Ministry of Defence |
Mikael Odenberg | Moderate Party | |
Ministry of Health and Social Affairs | |||
Minister for Social Affairs, Head of the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs |
Göran Hägglund | Christian Democrats | |
Minister for Public Health and Social Services, | Maria Larsson | Christian Democrats | |
Minister for Social Security | Cristina Husmark Pehrsson | Moderate Party | |
Ministry of Finance | |||
Minister for Finance, Head of the Ministry of Finance |
Anders Borg | Moderate Party | |
Minister for Local Government and Financial Markets | Mats Odell | Christian Democrats | |
Ministry of Education, Research and Culture | |||
Minister for Education and Science, Head of the Ministry of Education, Research and Culture |
Lars Leijonborg | Liberal People's Party | |
Minister for Schools | Jan Björklund | Liberal People's Party | |
Minister for Culture, (note: will become head of the Ministry of Culture when it is created) |
Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth | Moderate Party | |
Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Affairs | |||
Minister for Agriculture, Head of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Affairs |
Eskil Erlandsson | Centre Party | |
Ministry of Sustainable Development | |||
Minister for the Environment, Head of the Ministry of Sustainable Development |
Andreas Carlgren | Centre Party | |
Ministry of Industry, Employment and Communications | |||
Minister for Industry and Trade, Head of the Ministry of Industry, Employment and Communications, Vice Prime Minister of Sweden |
Maud Olofsson | Centre Party | |
Minister for Infrastructure | Åsa Torstensson | Centre Party | |
Minister for Employment, (note: will become head of the Ministry for Employment when it is created) |
Sven Otto Littorin | Moderate Party | |
Minister for Integration and Gender Equality (note: will become head of the Ministry of Integration and Gender Equality when it is created) |
Nyamko Sabuni | Liberal People's Party |
[edit] Government agencies
See also: Government agencies in Sweden
The Ministries in Sweden are relatively small and merely policy-making organizations, relying on Government agencies who independently carry out Government policy. A Government agency is constituted under the authority of a Ministry, but the Ministry is only allowed to influence the agency by making policy. The Minister in charge is furthermore prohibited from interfering with the day-to-day operation and the outcome in individual cases. An exception to this are the Legations and Embassies in foreign countries, which are under the direct authority and integrated with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- The Swedish Government - Official site
- Organization and Ministerial Bios at Official site