INTRODUCTION

In Sweden, the head of state (the monarch) no longer takes part in the process of government formation. It is the speaker of the Riksdag who appoints a candidate for prime minister. This candidate must be approved by the Riksdag. He or she is approved unless more than half of all members of parliament vote against the candidate. This constitutional rule was designed in the early 1970s. In this chapter I explain why the Swedish parties removed the monarch from the process of government formation and, for that matter, from most other formal functions and powers. At the heart of the explanation lie choices based on multiple goals in multiple arenas.

I focus on the parties' evaluations of available choices. The Social Democratic Party programme calls for an elected head of state (a republic). I discuss only briefly the Social Democrats' decision not to propose a republic. More interesting is the Social Democrats' decision to propose a modified form of monarchy. I also briefly present the positions of two other parties involved in the constitutional bargaining, the Centre and Liberal Parties. Of particular interest is the Conservatives' decision to accept a modified form of monarchy. This is given the most attention.

The outline of this chapter is as follows. In the next section I present the context in which the four parties reached a compromise. In the third section I present the content of the compromise and the events surrounding it. In the fourth section I explain in more detail why the Social Democrats proposed a modified form of monarchy.