Government of Sweden
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The government of Sweden is a constitutional monarchy with a representative democracy based on a parliamentary system. The affairs of the government of Sweden 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 and Research (Swedish: Utbildningsdepartementet)
- Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries (Swedish: Jordbruksdepartementet)
- Ministry of the Environment (Swedish: Miljödepartementet)
- Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications (Swedish: Näringsdepartementet)
- Ministry of Integration and Gender Equality (Swedish: Integrations- och jämställdhetsdepartementet)
- Ministry of Culture (Swedish: Kulturdepartementet)
- Ministry of Employment (Swedish: Arbetsmarknadsdepartementet)
- 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 was created:
- A new Ministry of Culture. This portfolio belonged to a minister at the Ministry of Education, Research and Culture in the Göran Persson's Cabinet
- A new Ministry for Employment. The portfolio belonged to a minister at the Ministry of Industry, Employment and Communications in the previous Cabinet
- A new Ministry of Integration and Gender Equality. This portfolio belonged to ministers under the Ministries of Justice, Foreign Affairs, Agriculture, Food and Consumers Affairs and the Ministry of Industry, Employment and Communications in the previous Cabinet.
- The Ministry of Sustainable Development is renamed to the Ministry of Environment.
[edit] Present Cabinet
- See also: List of cabinets of Sweden for old governments
[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
