In trying to bring the portrait of the regional development in Sweden, following a brief introduction of the system, this folder on regional development in Sweden focuses on the situation today, and includes information about the recently formed regional development councils.
General Presentation of the Administrative System .
"All public power in Sweden comes from the people-. This is the first sentence in the Swedish Constitution. .
The people are represented by the parliament (Riksdagen).
In Sweden, the parliament, Riksdagen, has the legislative power and the government, Regeringen, has the executive power.
The Swedish form of government is a parliamentary democratic monarchy. The Head of State is the king, but he has no authority in the governing of the state. It is the government, Regeringen - consisting of the Prime Minister and the other ministers - that governs the state and is answerable to the parliament, Riksdagen.
Regeringen is also responsible for the administration. At the local level, 286 municipalities (Kommuner), each Kommuner with its own parliament and government, perform many important tasks in Swedish (and Scandinavian) society, more than in many other European countries. For example, the duties of the local authorities are to handle education (except universities), social care, building control, control of the environment, health care and culture and recreation. On the regional level the authorities are called Landsting and have the main responsibility for health and medical care In Sweden there are 23 Landsting.
Sweden evolved within the ideological framework of the welfare state which is the political belief that the state could and ought to play a key role in the redistribution of wealth and that the public sector is the superior provider of social services. The Social Democratic Party (founded in 1897) had the major role in the increasing of the public sector's size.