Government of Sweden

Sweden is a constitutional monarchy with a representative democracy based on a parliamentary system. The affairs of Government are decided by a Cabinet of Ministers, which is lead by a Prime Minister. The Cabinet and the Prime Minister are responsible for their actions to the Parliament of Sweden.

Table of contents
1 Head of Government
2 Cabinet Government
3 Government Offices
4 Government Agencies
5 See also
6 External links

Head of Government

Main article: Prime Minister of Sweden

Head of Government: Prime Minister Göran Persson (since March 21, 1996)
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: Göran Persson is elected Prime Minister forming a Social Democrat minority government. After the general elections in 2002 the Social Democrat Government continues to depend on the Left Party and the Green Party to achieve a majority in Parliament.

Cabinet Government

As of the Cabinet reshuffle effective on October 10, 2003, in wake of the murder of Minister for Foreign Affairs, Anna Lindh, the Cabinet has 22 Ministers including the Prime Minister. Since the last organizational change in 1998 the Government Offices has, apart from the Prime Minister's Office and an Office for Administrative Affairs, ten Ministries. The Prime Minister leads the work of the Cabinet and is the official Head of Government. On occasion there has been appointed Deputy Prime Ministers, but when none such exist the Minister with the most seniority in Cabinet, is the designate Deputy Prime Minister. Ten of the Cabinet Ministers are also Heads of Office for their respective Ministries.

Government Offices

From October 10, 2003:

Prime Minister's Office

Ministry of Justice

Ministry for Foreign Affairs

Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Health and Social Affairs

Ministry of Finance

Ministry of Education and Science

Ministry for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries

Ministry of Culture

Ministry of the Environment

Ministry of Industry, Employment and Communications

Office for Administrative Affairs

The Office for Administrative Affairs, or Statskontoret, is staffed and led by civil servants. The Permanent Secretary, currently Gunnar Holmgren, is not a member of government.

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.

See also

External links