Sweden is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary form of government. The head of state is the King, who today has an almost exclusively ceremonial function.

Sweden has a unicameral parliament (the Riksdag) whose members are directly elected by proportional representation for a four-year term. The Riksdag decides on new laws and taxes on the basis of proposals from the Government. Sweden has universal suffrage and the voting age is 18. Voter turnout in parliamentary elections is traditionally very high at around 85 per cent.

Sweden has a national police force and a judicial system at local (tingsrätt – district court), regional (hovrätt – court of appeal) and national level (högsta domstolen – the Supreme Court).

For tax and administrative matters there are also kammarrätter (administrative courts of appeal) and regeringsrätten (the Supreme Administrative Court), which, like the Supreme Court, is a court of last instance.

For citizens there are ombudsmen, such as Justitieombudsmannen (JO – the Parliamentary Ombudsmen) and Jämställdhetsombudsmannen (JämO – the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman).

Each landsting (county council) has a democratically elected fullmäktigeförsamling (assembly of delegates) which is entitled to levy income tax and has primary responsibility for healthcare in its area.

Sweden is divided into 283 municipalities. Each municipality is run by a democratically elected kommunfullmäktige (municipal council) which is entitled to levy income tax and operates public services such as schools, childcare and care of the elderly, public service companies, housing, and cultural and leisure activities.

Arbetsmarknadsstyrelsen (AMS – the National Labour Market Board) is the public labour market administration in Sweden. AMS’s job is to perform the tasks entrusted to it by the Government and the Riksdag. At regional level there are 21 länsarbetsnämnder (county employment boards) which interpret AMS guidelines from a regional perspective. At the local level around 330 employment offices implement the guidelines of the AMS and county employment boards.

Reproduction based on information from the European Communities, information may have been altered to apply to New Zealand citizens.