History of The Riksdag - Constitutional Reform

Constitutional Reform

In the 1960s debates intensified over constitutional reform in Sweden. The fundamental question was over the system of government. Even though a de facto parliamentary system was firmly established, somewhat similar to the situation in the United Kingdom, there were demands for a more democratic constitution. One of the main issues was whether the Monarchy would survive a constitutional reform and this blocked the issue for a long time.

Effective from 1970 a reform of the Riksdag had been agreed upon. Though not technically part of the constitution it showed that the parties in the Riksdag were able to agree upon fundamental changes of the political system. The reform transformed the Riksdag from a bicameral legislature into a unicameral assembly with 350 seats. Unfortunately the second general election to the unicameral Riksdag only gave the Government support from 175 members, while the opposition could mobilize an equal force of 175 members. In several cases this meant that the final outcome of a tied vote, was decided by chance. In 1974 it was decided that the number of seats from 1977 were to be reduced to 349.