The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden () is the national cabinet of Sweden, and the country's executive authority.
The Government consists of the Prime Ministerappointed and dismissed by the Speaker of the Riksdagand other cabinet ministers (), appointed and dismissed at the sole discretion of the Prime Minister. The Government is responsible for its actions to the Riksdag.
The short-form name ("the Government") is used both in the Basic Laws of Sweden and in the vernacular, while the long-form is only used in international treaties.
Organization
The Government operates as a collegial body with collective responsibility and consists of the Prime Ministerappointed and dismissed by the Speaker of the Riksdag (following an actual vote in the Riksdag before an appointment can be made)and other cabinet ministers (), appointed and dismissed at the sole discretion of the Prime Minister. The Government is responsible for its actions to the Riksdag.
Following the adoption of the 1974 Instrument of Government on 1 January 1975the Government in its present constitutional form was constitutedand in consequence thereof the Swedish Monarch is no longer vested any nominal executive powers at all with respect to the governance of the Realm, but continues to serve as a strictly ceremonial head of state. At the same time, the bicameral parliament was changed into a unicameral (Swedish: Riksdag).
History
The present Government is formed according to the laws set out in the 1974 Instrument of Government. But it traces its history to the Middle Ages when in the 12th century the Swedish Privy Council was formed. It functioned in this capacity until 1789 when King Gustav III had it abolished when the Riksdag passed the Union and Security Act. The old privy council had only had members from the aristocracy. Gustav III instead instituted . It functioned as the Government until 1809 when a new Instrument of Government was introduced, thus creating the present Government predecessor, the Council of State. It acted as the Government of Sweden until the 31 December 1974.
Role and scope
The Government has a stronger constitutional position than the cabinets in the other Scandinavian monarchies. This is because under the Instrument of Government ()—one of the Fundamental Laws of the Realm—the Government is both the de jure and de facto executive authority in Sweden. In Denmark and Norway, the monarch is at least the nominal chief executive, but is bound by convention to act on the advice of the cabinet. However, Chapter 1, Article 6 of the Instrument of Government explicitly states:
The Instrument of Government sets out the main responsibilities and duties of the Government (including the Prime Minister's and other cabinet ministers') and how it relates to other organs of the State.
Most state administrative authorities (), as opposed to local authorities (), sorts under the Government, including the Armed Forces, Coast Guard, Customs Service and the police.
While the judiciary technically sort under the Government in the fiscal sense, Chapter 11 of the Instrument of Government provides safeguards to ensure its independence.
In a unique feature of the Swedish constitutional system, individual cabinet ministers do not bear any individual ministerial responsibility for the performance of the agencies within their portfolio; as the director-generals and other heads of government agencies reports directly to the Government as a whole; and individual ministers cannot intervene in individual cases in matters that are to be handled by the individual agencies, unless otherwise specifically provided for in law; thus the origin of the pejorative, in Swedish political parlance, term ministerstyre (English: "ministerial rule").
High Contracting Party
The Government of Sweden is the high contracting party when entering treaties with foreign sovereign states and international organisations (such as the European Union), as per 10:1 of the Instrument of Government. In most other parliamentary systems (monarchies and republics alike) this formal function is usually vested in the head of state but exercised by ministers in such name.
Promulgation
Chapter 6, Article 7 prescribes that laws and ordinances are promulgated by the Government (by the Prime Minister or other cabinet minister), and are subsequently published in the Swedish Code of Statutes ().