Government of Sweden

The government of Sweden is a constitutional monarchy based on parliamentary democracy. The affairs of the government of Sweden are directed by a cabinet of ministers, which is led by the Prime Minister. The cabinet and the Prime Minister are responsible for their actions to the Riksdag, which is the parliament.

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.

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.

Government ministries and offices

* Government offices ( _sv. Regeringskansliet) [ [http://www.sweden.gov.se/sb/d/576 Government of Sweden] ]
** Prime Minister's Office ( _sv. Statsrådsberedningen)
** Ministry of Justice ( _sv. Justitiedepartementet)
** Ministry for Foreign Affairs ( _sv. Utrikesdepartementet)
** Ministry of Defence ( _sv. Försvarsdepartementet)
** Ministry of Health and Social Affairs ( _sv. Socialdepartementet)
** Ministry of Finance ( _sv. Finansdepartementet)
** Ministry of Education and Research ( _sv. Utbildningsdepartementet)
** Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries ( _sv. Jordbruksdepartementet)
** Ministry of the Environment ( _sv. Miljödepartementet)
** Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications ( _sv. Näringsdepartementet)
** Ministry of Integration and Gender Equality ( _sv. Integrations- och jämställdhetsdepartementet)
** Ministry of Culture ( _sv. Kulturdepartementet)
** Ministry of Employment ( _sv. Arbetsmarknadsdepartementet)
*Other offices:
** Office for Administrative Affairs ( _sv. Förvaltningsavdelningen)
** Permanent Representation of Sweden to the EU ( _sv. EU-representationen)

Present cabinet

:"See also: List of cabinets of Sweden for old governments."

Government agencies

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

*List of Swedish politicians
*Elections in Sweden
*Referendums in Sweden

References

External links

* [http://www.sweden.gov.se/ The Swedish Government] - Official site
* [http://www.sweden.gov.se/govoffices/govoff_org.htm Organization and Ministerial Bios] at Official site