Administratively Sweden is divided into 24 provinces (Län) which are headed by prefects appointed by the king. The capital is administered by a governor. The following table gives the surface and the population of the various provinces.
The constitution of Sweden is not made up of a single document, but of a set of constitutional laws, the main one being the Regeringsform bearing the date of June 6, 1809; moreover, they have never ceased since then to be reworked by the permanent committee of the constitution provided for by art. 38 of the second of the constitutional laws, the organic law of parliament (Riksdag) of 1810, renewed in 1866. The innumerable amendments are merged from time to time in the text of the respective constitutional laws, the body of which is reprinted in full in the official collection of read. Thus the constitution of Sweden is eminently elastic.
After the last important amendments in a democratic sense of the period 1918-24, Sweden presents itself as a hereditary constitutional monarchy, bound, as regards the person of the sovereign and his successor, to the Evangelical-Lutheran confession. Executive power rests with the king, who exercises it through the council of ministers (statsråd “council of state”), composed of a president minister of state, nine secretary ministers of state, and three ministers without portfolios acting as legal advisers, all accountable to parliament. Legislative power rests with the king and parliament, which have the right of reciprocal veto. The approval of the Ecclesiastical Council is required for ecclesiastical legislation. The parliament is made up of two chambers, the first with 150 members, elected by the proportional system, indirectly, for 8 years, from among 35-year-old citizens who have at least an income of 3,000 crowns or a patrimony of 50,000 crowns; the second of 230 deputies, elected by direct secret universal suffrage with the proportional system, for four years, from among the voters (male and female). The competences of the two chambers are identical: “standing committees” made up of members of the two chambers exercise extensive control over the activity of the ministers and the executive in general. Between sessions (the four-month sessions usually begin each year on January 10), control is exercised by state auditors, appointed by parliament. The king is not bound in theory to follow a vote of no confidence in the parliament towards the ministers; in practice it almost always follows the indication of the parliament. as a rule begin on January 10 each year) control is exercised by state auditors, appointed by parliament. The king is not bound in theory to follow a vote of no confidence in the parliament towards the ministers; in practice it almost always follows the indication of the parliament. as a rule begin on January 10 each year) control is exercised by state auditors, appointed by parliament. The king is not bound in theory to follow a vote of no confidence in the parliament towards the ministers; in practice it almost always follows the indication of the parliament. For Sweden democracy and rights, please check intershippingrates.com.
The parliament annually appoints justitie-ombusdman, the state attorney general, who together with a military attorney general (militie-ombusdman) protects the personal freedom of citizens, controlling the administrative and judicial authorities in order to avoid abuses of the executive power. Apart from this, and the justitiekansler who performs the same functions on behalf of the crown, the judiciary and officials are independent and in principle irremovable (except for offices of a political nature). Judicial power is entrusted to the supreme court, alongside which there are three courts of appeal, and different courts of first instance. Members of the high judiciary form a legislative council, which examines the legality of government proposals.
Finance. – Budgets and public debt. – The main sources of revenue for the Swedish budget are given by indirect taxes (especially taxes on consumption and customs duties), by direct taxes, and by state monopolies and companies. Among the expenditure items, those for public education and worship, for national defense, for social legislation and for the service of public debt, are above all important.
At 31 July 1936 the public debt, contracted mainly for productive purposes (initially partly also abroad but gradually redeemed and currently only in domestic hands), amounted to 2372 million crowns, of which 407 of floating debt.
Money and credit. – Since 1873, the monetary unit has been the krone (krona) of 100 öre, worth 1 shilling and 1½ pence (equal to 18 crowns and 16 öre per pound sterling).
During the war, the legal possibility of obtaining tickets against gold was suspended and the free minting of crowns with gold obtained from abroad was suspended, the crown rose above parity, also rewarding the dollar, precisely as a consequence of this protectionism. anti-gold; in the immediate postwar period, however, it was affected by the general crisis and especially by dumping countries with a depreciated currency and lost value in the face of gold, also due to the world crisis of wood and cellulose which are the most important products of Swedish exports. The situation began to improve in 1923 and, after a rapid revaluation, Sweden was able on 1 April 1924 to abolish the exceptional measures inherent in the defense against the feared invasion of gold from abroad and return to the free convertibility – in both directions – of the prewar period. As of September 27, 1931, following the sterling crisis, convertibility was then suspended again, given the close dependence of Swedish foreign trade on that of England.
The circulation is almost exclusively composed of notes from the Sveriges Riksbank, or National Bank of Sweden (founded in 1656), which has the privilege of issuing and is a true state bank (the board of directors is elected for three years by the parliament and the president is designated by the king). The limit of double the gold reserve increased by 250 million crowns (which can be raised to 375 with the authorization of the king and parliament) according to the law of 9 May 1930 is set for the fiduciary circulation. The bank is also authorized to deal in foreign currency transactions..
As of October 31, 1936, notes in circulation amounted to 839 million and the gold reserve to 437 million. On the same date, Sweden also had on demand foreign assets of 287 million.
The main credit institutions are Svenska Handelsbank, Skandinaviska Kreditaktiebolag, Göteborgs Bank and Stockholms Enskilda Bank, which together account for more than half of all banking operations in the country.
