The Swedish wordriksdag, in definite formriksdagen, is a general term for "parliament" or "assembly", but it is typically only used for Sweden's legislature and certain related institutions.[5][6][7] In addition to Sweden's parliament, it is also used for theParliament of Finland and the EstonianRiigikogu, as well as the historical GermanReichstag and the DanishRigsdagen.[7] In Swedish use,riksdagen is usually not capitalised.[8]Riksdag derives from thegenitive ofrike, referring to royal power, anddag, meaningdiet or conference; the German wordReichstag and the DanishRigsdag arecognate.[9] TheOxford English Dictionary traces English use of the term "Riksdag" in reference to the Swedish assembly back to 1855.[9]
Historical distribution of seats in the Swedish Riksdag 1902–2018
The roots of the modern Riksdag can be found in a 1435 meeting in the city ofArboga; however, only three of the estates were probably present: thenobility, theclergy and theburghers.[10][11] This informal organization was modified in 1527 by the first modern Swedish king,Gustav I Vasa, to include representatives from all thefour social estates: thenobility, the clergy, theburghers (property-owning commoners in the towns such as merchants etc.), and theyeomanry (freehold farmers). This form ofStändestaat representation lasted until 1866, when representation by estate was abolished and the modern bicameral parliament established. Effectively, however, it did not become a parliament in the modern sense untilparliamentary principles were established in the political system in Sweden, in 1917.
On 22 June 1866, the Riksdag decided to reconstitute itself as abicameral legislature, consisting ofFörsta kammaren or the First Chamber, with 155 members andAndra kammaren or the Second Chamber with 233 members. The First Chamber was indirectly elected by county and city councillors, while the Second Chamber was directly elected by universal suffrage. This reform was a result of great discontent with the old Estates, which, following the changes brought by the beginnings of theIndustrial Revolution, was no longer able to provide representation for large segments of the population.
By an amendment to the1809 Instrument of Government, the general election of 1970 was the first to aunicameral assembly with 350 seats. The following general election to the unicameral Riksdag in 1973 gave the Government the support of only 175 members, while the opposition could mobilize an equal force of 175 members. In a number of cases a tied vote ensued, and the final decision had to be determined by lot. To avoid any recurrence of this unstable situation, the number of seats in the Riksdag was reduced to 349, from 1976 onwards.
The Riksdag performs the normal functions of alegislature in aparliamentary democracy. It enacts laws, amends the constitution and appoints a government. In most parliamentary democracies, thehead of state commissions a politician to form a government. Under the new Instrument of Government[12] (one of the four fundamental laws of the Constitution) enacted in 1974, that task was removed from theMonarch of Sweden and given to the Speaker of the Riksdag.To make changes to the Constitution under the new Instrument of Government, amendments must be approved twice, in two successive electoral periods with a regular general election held in between.
As of September 2022, 163 members, or 46.7% of the 349 members are women. Five parties have a majority representation of female MPs as of 2022: the Left Party (17 of 24, 70.8%), the Green Party (12 of 18, 66.7%), the Liberals (9 of 16, 56.3%), the Center Party (13 of 24, 54.2%), and the Social Democratic Party (55 of 107, 51.4%). The party with the lowest share of female MPs is the Sweden Democrats (18 of 73, 24.7%).[14]
Members of the Riksdag are full-time legislators with a salary ofSEK 78,500 per month, as of 1 January 2025.[15]
According to a survey investigation by the sociologist Jenny Hansson, Members of the Riksdag have an average work week of 66 hours, including side responsibilities. Hansson's investigation further reports that the average member sleeps 6.5 hours per night.[16]
The former second chamber, nowadays used for committee meetings
The Riksdag building exterior, from the west, at night
Thepresidium consists of aspeaker and threedeputy speakers. They are elected for a 4-yearterm. The Speaker is not allowed to vote, but the three deputies are allowed to vote.
Thespeaker of the Riksdag nominates aPrime Minister (Swedish:statsminister, literally minister of state) after holding talks with leaders of the various party groups in the Riksdag. The nomination is then put to a vote. The nomination is rejected (meaning the Speaker must find a new nominee) only if an absolute majority of the members (175 members) vote "no"; otherwise, it is confirmed. This means the Riksdag can consent to a Prime Minister without casting any "yes" votes.
After being elected the Prime Minister appoints the cabinet ministers and announces them to the Riksdag. The new Government takes office at a special council held at theRoyal Palace before theMonarch, at which the Speaker of the Riksdag formally announces to the Monarch that the Riksdag has elected a new Prime Minister and that the Prime Minister has chosen his cabinet ministers.
The Riksdag can cast avote of no confidence against any single cabinet minister (Swedish:statsråd), thus forcing a resignation. To succeed, a vote of no confidence must be supported by an absolute majority (175 members) or it has failed.
If a vote of no confidence is cast against the Prime Minister this means the entire government is rejected. A losing government has one week to call for a general election or else the procedure of nominating a new Prime Minister starts anew.[17]
No party has won a singlemajority in the Riksdag since 1968. Political parties with similar agendas consequently cooperate on several issues, formingcoalition governments or other formalized alliances.
Two major blocs existed in parliament until 2019, thesocialist/greenRed-Greens and theconservative/liberalAlliance. The latter—consisting of the Moderate Party, Liberals, Centre Party, and Christian Democrats—governed Sweden from 2006 through most of 2014 (after 2010 through aminority government).The Red-Greens combination disbanded on 26 October 2010 but continued to be considered the main opposition until the 2014 election, following which the Social Democrats and the Green Party formed a government with support from the Left Party.[18]
In 2019, after the 2018 election in which neither bloc won a majority of seats, the Social Democrats and Green Party formed a government with support from the Liberals and Centre Party, breaking the center-right Alliance. In March 2019, the Christian Democrats and Moderate Party signaled a willingness to talk with the Sweden Democrats.[19]
Interior of the Riksdag building.The second chamber
The offices of the parliament are housed in several buildings, including the former RoyalMint onMynttorget Square.
All 349 members of the Riksdag are elected in the general elections held every four years. All Swedish citizens who turn 18 years old no later than on the day of the election and have at one point been registered residents are eligible to vote. To stand for election, a candidate must be eligible to vote and be nominated by a political party. A minimum of 4% of the national vote is required for a party to enter the Riksdag, alternatively 12% or more within a constituency. Substitutes for each deputy are elected at the same time as each election, soby-elections are rare. In the event of asnap election, the newly elected members merely serve the remainder of the four-year term.[21]
Constituencies and national apportionment of seats
The electoral system in Sweden isproportional. Of the 349 seats in the unicameral Riksdag, 310 are fixed constituency seats allocated to 29 multi-member constituencies in relation to the number of people entitled to vote in each constituency. The remaining 39 adjustment seats are used to correct the deviations from proportional national distribution that may arise when allocating the fixed constituency seats. There is a constraint in the system that means that only a party that has received at least four per cent of the votes in the whole country participates in the distribution of seats. However, a party that has received at least twelve per cent of the votes in a constituency participates in the distribution of the fixed constituency seats in that constituency.[22][21]
^Nöjd, Ruben; Tornberg, Astrid; Angström, Margareta (1978)."Riksdag (riksdagen)".Mckay's Modern English-Swedish and Swedish-English Dictionary. David Mckay. p. 147.ISBN0-679-10079-2.
^Gullberg, Ingvar (1977). "Riksdag".Svensk-Engelsk Fackordbok. PA Norstedt & Söners Förlag. p. 741.ISBN91-1-775052-0.
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