Chapter 3 of 13 in Sverige i fokus

How is Sweden governed? The Riksdag, the government, regions, municipalities and the King

Quick answers

How is Sweden governed?

Sweden is a parliamentary representative democracy. The people elect the Riksdag, the Riksdag elects the prime minister, and the government governs the country with the help of the public authorities.

Who is Sweden's head of state?

King Carl XVI Gustaf. He has no political power. Crown Princess Victoria is next in line.

Is Sweden a monarchy?

Yes, a constitutional monarchy. The head of state is a king or queen but does not govern the country.

How many regions does Sweden have?

21 regions (regioner). They are mainly responsible for health care.

How many members does the Riksdag have?

349 members, elected every four years.

The citizenship test (medborgarskapsprovet) is written in Swedish, so learn the Swedish key words in brackets as you read. This page is also available in Swedish: Så här styrs Sverige.

Chapter 3 of Sverige i fokus is about how political power is divided between the state (staten), the regions (regionerna) and the municipalities (kommunerna). The people elect the politicians. The politicians decide on laws, rules and budgets. The public authorities (myndigheterna) carry out the decisions in practice. Here we go through the chapter step by step.

How is Sweden governed?

Political responsibility in Sweden is divided between three levels:

• National level: the state (staten).
• Regional level: the regions (regionerna).
• Local level: the municipalities (kommunerna).

Sweden is also affected by decisions in the European Union (EU).

The state consists of the Riksdag (riksdagen, the Swedish parliament), the government (regeringen), the public authorities and the courts. Sweden is a parliamentary representative democracy (parlamentarisk representativ demokrati). Representative means that the people elect politicians who make the decisions. Parliamentary means that the government must have the support of the Riksdag.

The chain looks like this: citizens vote in general elections and elect members (ledamöter) of the Riksdag. The Riksdag decides on laws and the state budget. The Riksdag also elects the prime minister (statsminister), and the prime minister forms a government. The government governs the country with the help of the public authorities. In the same way, residents elect politicians to their region and their municipality.

What do the Riksdag and the government do?

The Riksdag has 349 members. They are elected every four years in general elections and represent different parties and different parts of the country. The Riksdag decides on laws and on how the state’s money is to be used.

The Riksdag elects the prime minister. The prime minister is given the task of forming a government and then chooses the ministers. The government governs the country.

Every autumn the government sends the Riksdag a proposal on the state’s income and spending. The proposal is called the budget bill (budgetproposition). The budget shows what policy the government wants to pursue and what the state should prioritise.

The parties that do not support the government are called the opposition (oppositionen). The opposition’s job is to scrutinise the government’s work and propose a different policy. In the Riksdag, the governing parties and the opposition debate the proposals before the members vote.

What do the public authorities do?

The government governs the country with the help of state authorities (statliga myndigheter). There are several hundred authorities in Sweden. Some examples are Arbetsförmedlingen (the Public Employment Service), Försäkringskassan (the Social Insurance Agency), Migrationsverket (the Migration Agency), Polismyndigheten (the Police Authority) and Skatteverket (the Tax Agency).

The authorities make decisions in individual cases. If you apply for parental benefit, it is Försäkringskassan that decides, not the government. The authorities must follow the law and the instructions they have been given by the government.

There are special authorities that check that the others do things right. Two of them are the Parliamentary Ombudsman (Justitieombudsmannen, JO) and the Chancellor of Justice (Justitiekanslern, JK).

The difference between politicians and authorities matters for the test. The politicians in the Riksdag, the regions and the municipalities decide on laws, rules and budgets. The authorities carry out the decisions. So the government cannot step in and change an individual decision at Försäkringskassan or Migrationsverket. The authority follows the law and the government’s general instructions, not orders in individual cases.

How many regions does Sweden have?

Sweden is divided into 21 regions (regioner). Each region is governed by politicians whom the residents elected in the regional election. The politicians make the decisions in the regional council (regionfullmäktige).

The regions’ main task is health care (hälso- och sjukvård). They also make sure there is public transport (kollektivtrafik), such as buses, trams and the underground. They are also responsible for the county museums.

Do not mix up regions and counties. Sweden has 21 counties (län) and 21 regions, but the county is the state’s division of the country and the region is the politically governed level.

What are the municipalities responsible for?

Sweden has 290 municipalities (kommuner). The largest is the capital, Stockholm, with almost one million inhabitants. The smallest is Dorotea in Västerbotten county, with fewer than 3,000 inhabitants.

The municipalities are governed by politicians whom the residents elected in the municipal election. The decisions are made in the municipal council (kommunfullmäktige). Most local politicians have ordinary jobs and do politics in their spare time.

In the municipality there are committees (nämnder) responsible for different areas. The culture committee, for example, is responsible for the libraries and the education committee for the schools. The members of the committees are chosen by the municipal council.

The municipalities run much of the service that residents use every day: water and sewage, care of the elderly and children, snow clearing, parks and adult education. That is why decisions in the municipality often affect your everyday life more directly than decisions in the Riksdag.

An example: if the preschool opens earlier, if the street is ploughed in the morning or if the library gets longer opening hours, it is the municipality that decided it. If instead you get a new law on parental benefit, the Riksdag decided it and Försäkringskassan applies it. If you need health care, the region is responsible.

Is Sweden a monarchy? Who is Sweden’s head of state?

Yes, Sweden is a constitutional monarchy (konstitutionell monarki). This means that the head of state (statschef) is a king or queen who has no political power. The King is a symbol of Sweden. He makes state visits to other countries and receives other countries’ heads of state when they visit Sweden.

Sweden’s head of state is King Carl XVI Gustaf. His first-born daughter Victoria is crown princess (kronprinsessa) and first in line to take over. After her comes Victoria’s daughter Estelle.

Who may inherit the throne is decided by the Act of Succession (successionsordningen), one of the four fundamental laws. Chapter 5 covers it.

Who does what? A quick summary

A good way to remember the chapter is to connect each task to the right level:

• The Riksdag makes laws and decides on the state budget. Elects the prime minister.
• The government governs the country and presents the budget bill. The prime minister chooses the ministers.
• The public authorities carry out the decisions, for example Försäkringskassan and Skatteverket.
• The regions (21) run health care, public transport and county museums.
• The municipalities (290) run schools, care, water, snow clearing and parks.
• The King is head of state without political power.

What the test usually asks about

• The three levels: the state, the regions and the municipalities, plus the influence of the EU.
• That the Riksdag has 349 members who are elected every four years.
• That the Riksdag elects the prime minister and that the prime minister chooses the ministers.
• What the budget bill is and who presents it.
• What the opposition does.
• Examples of public authorities and what JO and JK do.
• The number of regions (21) and municipalities (290), and what they are responsible for.
• That Sweden is a constitutional monarchy and that the King has no political power.

Practise chapter 3

Test yourself with three open questions on chapter 3; the rest are in the course. We wrote the questions in the style of the test; they are not UHR’s questions. Read the explanations, they often contain the fact the next question builds on. The practice test covers all chapters.

Difficult words in this chapter

parlamentarisk

parliamentary: the government must have the support of the parliament, in Sweden the Riksdag

representativ demokrati

representative democracy: the people elect politicians who make the decisions for them

ledamot

a member, a person elected to the Riksdag or another decision-making body

budgetproposition

the budget bill, the government's proposal to the Riksdag on the state's income and spending

opposition

the parties in the Riksdag that do not support the government

myndighet

a public authority, a state organisation that carries out political decisions, for example Skatteverket (the Tax Agency)

fullmäktige

the council, the elected politicians in a municipality or region who make the decisions

nämnd

a committee, a group of politicians in the municipality responsible for one area, for example schools

statsskick

form of government, how a country is governed, for example monarchy or republic

statschef

head of state, the country's highest representative; in Sweden the King

The course

The full course, all 13 chapters

MonthYear

99SEK per month

or 499 SEK for a full year

• Lessons for every chapter of Sverige i fokus
• Practice questions with explanations and page references
• A mock test in the same form as the August test
• Difficult words explained in plain Swedish

Coming soon

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Sources

• Sverige i fokus, UHR (2026): pp. 12–13