The prime minister is tasked with forming a government. The prime minister personally chooses the ministers to make up the cabinet and also decides which ministers will be in charge of the various ministries. Together, the prime minister and the cabinet ministers form the government.
The government governs the country but is accountable to the parliament. Openness in Sweden. Democracy in Sweden. Gender equality. Gay rights in Sweden. Disability policy. The government rules Sweden by implementing the decisions of the parliament and by formulating new laws or law amendments, on which the parliament decides.
The government is assisted in this task by the Government Offices and the Swedish government agencies in total, as of December The cabinet as a whole is responsible for all government decisions. Although many routine matters are in practice decided by individual ministers and only formally approved by the government, the principle of collective responsibility is reflected in all governmental work.
As part of its official functions, the government:. Sweden sometimes holds national referendums. They are consultative, which means that the parliament may reach decisions that run counter to the outcome of the referendum.
Sweden has three levels of domestic government: national, regional and local. At the regional level, Sweden is divided into 21 counties. The county councils are responsible for overseeing tasks such as health care and are entitled to levy income taxes to cover their costs. At the local level, Sweden is divided into municipalities, each with an elected assembly or council. Municipalities are responsible for a broad range of facilities and services including housing, roads, water supply and waste water processing, schools, public welfare, elderly care and childcare.
They are legally obliged to provide certain basic services. The municipalities are entitled to levy income taxes on individuals, and they also charge for various services. General elections are an important expression of the fact that we in Sweden live in a democracy.
However, there are many ways of influencing Swedish politics, for example by taking part in referendums, joining a political party or sending in your comments on reports presented by the Government. Basic provisions defining how Sweden shall be governed are enshrined in the Constitution. In these fundamental laws the relationship between decision-making and executive power is set out and also the freedoms and rights enjoyed by citizens.
Amendments require the Riksdag to take the same decision on two separate occasions. A parliamentary election must also have taken place between the two decisions. The Constitution concerns Sweden's form of government, succession to the throne, freedom of expression and of the press, and other fundamental freedoms and rights.
Responsibility for ensuring that human rights are not violated rests with the Riksdag, the Government and the national, regional and local government administration as a whole.
The Government's longterm goal is to ensure full respect for human rights in Sweden. In Sweden, human rights are primarily safeguarded through the Constitution and other laws and ordinances.
There are also other international intergovernmental agreements establishing human rights. The Government's efforts to promote and protect human rights permeate both national policy and all aspects of foreign policy. Central government, municipalities and county councils must:.
Sweden has a long tradition of work for gender equality. Gender equality means that women and men enjoy the same rights and opportunities in all areas of life, for example equal opportunities on the labour market, shared responsibility for the home and children and economic equality.
One important date in this respect was , when women gained the right to vote. Many reforms and laws have been introduced since that date. The proportion of women on the Swedish labour market has increased rapidly since the mids, and today women work to almost the same extent as men. But the balance of power and influence between women and men still varies between different sectors of society. Politics is one of the most gender-equal sectors. The proportion of women and men in the Riksdag is 45 per cent and 55 per cent respectively.
There are fewer women in leading positions in other areas, such as science, culture, mass media, the Church of Sweden and business. Despite certain changes in recent years, the business sector is the most heavily male-dominated. The principle of public access means that, as far as possible, the activities of government agencies, the Riksdag and local government decision-making bodies should be open.
To guarantee transparency in these activities, the principle of public access to official documents has been enshrined in one of the fundamental laws, the Freedom of the Press Act. The principle of public access entitles the general public to access official documents.
Documents that are received or sent out by the Government Offices and other government agencies, e. As a general rule, all incoming documents should be registered by the receiving authority.
Notes and draft decisions are not normally classified as official documents. If you want to know what documents are held by a government agency or to get hold of them, you should contact the agency in question. The principle of public access also means that officials and others working in central government, municipalities and county councils have freedom of communication.
This means that, with some exceptions, they have the right to tell, for example, the media about matters that would otherwise be secret without punishment and without the employer finding out who provided the information.
An important function in guaranteeing transparency in the public sector is the system of ombudsmen, a concept which has spread to several other countries. The Ombudsmen for Justice JO — or Parliamentary Ombudsmen, as they are officially known — are elected by the Riksdag to ensure that government agencies and public officials comply with existing laws and other regulations in the performance of their duties.
The Committee on the Constitution KU is a Riksdag committee that scrutinises the ministers' performance of their official duties and the handling of government business. It also prepares matters concerning the Constitution, the Riksdag Act and the choice of auditors-general. The Swedish National Audit Office, which is an agency answerable to the Riksdag, scrutinises government agencies and enterprises and ensures their compliance with directives, rules and regulations.
It also verifies that they achieve their objectives, i. Some central government agencies are also supervisory authorities, that is, they exercise scrutiny themselves. In this way, the State scrutinises and supports the work of the county councils, regions and municipalities.
The Swedish Schools Inspectorate is, for example, a supervisory authority that inspects schools to ensure that they comply with laws and regulations. International and EU-related work has increased with globalisation and Sweden's membership of the EU. All of the ministries undertake EU-related work, prepare Swedish positions and monitor matters and cases in the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Sweden has been a member of the European Union since 1 January following a national referendum in Membership means that Sweden takes part in the EU's work and has the possibility to influence the decisions taken there. For the time being, Sweden remains outside the Economic and Monetary Union EMU , the members of which have the euro as a common currency. A referendum was held in September on whether Sweden should join the single currency.
The result was that Around Swedes work in the EU. Sweden became a member of the United Nations UN in , the year after the organisation was formed. Since then, active involvement in the UN has been an important element of Swedish foreign policy. Sweden's Government, with broad support in the Riksdag, views cooperation within the UN as the most important instrument for dealing with the major global life-and-death issues.
This requires a strong UN and close cooperation with local organisations, individual countries and civil society in all parts of the world. Since the s, Sweden has taken part in most UN peacekeeping operations. Coat of Arms of Kingdom of Sweden. Grades each country on a scale of 0 to , based on ten freedoms, with representing the greatest amount of economic autonomy from government intervention.
Source: Heritage Foundation The political and economic situation is good. A basically stable and efficient business environment nonetheless leaves room for improvement.
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