Kingdom of Sweden

• Capital: Stockholm

• Population: 9.9 Million

• Language: Swedish

• Political System: Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy

• EU member since 1995

• Currency: Krona

• Electoral System: Proportional Representation (open list)

The Royal Family

• Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and family

• Hereditary & constitutional Monarchy

• The King is Head of State

The Riksdag

Voter Turnout

Indicator of the electorate’s overall faith in their political institutions and politicians

US Election 2016 – 58%Canada 2015 – 68%Sweden 2014 – 86%Province of NB 2015 – 65%

Brexit (June 2016) – 72%1995 Quebec Referendum – 94%UK election 2017 – 70%

First Past the Post

• Winner-take-all

• Most votes in a riding wins that seat

• Runners up count for nothing

Proportional Representation

• Seats in a legislature are awarded based on their proportion of the popular vote

• A party that gets 40% of the votes, gets 40% of the seats

• The most commonly used electoral system in the world

• Of the top 10 democracies in the world 8 use PR in their elections

• Sweden uses an Open List PR ballot

• Often criticized because it can lead to more minority governments

Canada’s 2011 Federal Election

54% of seats!

11% of seats!

• From the Liberal website

(removed last fall)

54% of seats!

29% of seats

14% of seats

Ideologies Textbook – Pages 73 - 81

1. What similarities does Sweden’s system of government share with Canada?

2. How do the role of opposition parties differ in Sweden?

3. What are some pros and cons of both First-past-the-post (FPTP) and Proportional Representation (PR) systems