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. 

There are a number of ombudsmen, including the Justitieombudsmannen (JO – the Parliamentary Ombudsmen) and Jämställdhetsombudsmannen (JämO – the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman). 


At regional level there are 20 Landsting/Regioner (County Councils/Regions), which have primary responsibility for healthcare in their areas. The county council has a democratically elected fullmäktigeförsamling (assembly of delegates), which is entitled to levy income tax. 

Sweden is divided into 290 municipalities. Each municipality is run by a democratically elected kommunfullmäktige (municipal council), which is entitled to levy income tax. The municipalities are responsible for public services such as schools, childcare and care of the elderly, public service companies, housing, and cultural and leisure activities. 

The Swedish Employment Service is the public employment authority in Sweden. Its task is to implement the labour market policy objectives handed down by the Government and the Riksdag. The country is divided into 68 labour market regions. In each region there may be one or more Swedish Employment Service offices – more than 300 in total.

Text last edited on: 11/2009