Popular government in Sweden rests upon ancient tradition. The Swedish parliament (Riksdag) stems from tribal courts (Ting) and the election of kings in the Viking age. It became a permanent institution in the 15th century. Sweden’s government is a limited constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system. Executive authority is vested in the cabinet, which consists of a prime minister and 20 ministers who run the governmental departments. The present Social Democratic government, led by Prime Minister Göran Persson, came to power in 1994 after losing power briefly in 1991. King Carl XVI Gustaf ascended to the throne on September 15, 1973. His authority is formal, symbolic, and representational.

The unicameral Riksdag has 349 members, popularly elected every 4 years and is in session generally from September through mid-June.

Sweden is divided into 21 counties and 289 municipalities. Each county (län) is headed by a governor, who is appointed by the central government. Each county has a popularly elected council with the power of taxation, and each council has particular responsibility for education, public transportation, health, and medical care. Elected municipal councils are headed by executive committees roughly analogous to the boards of commissioners found in some U.S. cities.

Swedish law, drawing on Germanic, Roman, and Anglo-American law, is neither as codified as in France and other countries influenced by the Napoleonic Code, nor as dependent on judicial practice and precedents as in the United States. Legislative and judicial institutions include, in addition to the Riksdag, the Supreme Court, the Supreme Administrative Court, the Labor Court, Commissions of Inquiry, the Law Council, District Courts and Courts of Appeal, the Chief Public Prosecutor, the Bar Association, and ombudsmen who oversee the application of laws with particular attention to abuses of authority.

Principal Government Officials
Head of State–King Carl XVI Gustaf
Head of Government–Prime Minister Göran Persson
Deputy Prime Minister–Bosse Ringholm
Minister of Foreign Affairs–Laila Freivalds
Minister of Defense–Leni Bjorklund
Minister of Finance–Per Nuder
Deputy Finance Minister–Sven Erik Österberg
Minister of Education and Culture–Leif Pagrotsky
Minister of Trade and Industry–Tomas Ostros
Ministers for Environment and Sustainable Development–Mona Sahlin and Lena Sommestad
Minister for Integration–Jens Orback
Minister for Primary and Secondary Schools–Ibrahim Baylan

Ambassador to the United States–Jan Eliasson
Ambassador to the United Nations–Anders Lidén