Swedish Civics: Government Systems, Democracy, and Electoral Principles

Flashcards covering core civic concepts from the lecture, including state structures, electoral systems, democratic principles, constitutional laws, and comparative political forms.

Federalstat

A form of state where power is divided between the central government for the whole country and individual state levels (delstater), such as in the USA.

Enhetsstat

A unitary state where fundamental state power resides entirely at the national level. Sweden is an example of an enhetsstat.

Proportionellt valsystem

An electoral system where the share of seats in parliament roughly corresponds to the share of votes received by each party, allowing smaller parties and diverse political views to be represented.

Majoritetsvalsystem

An electoral system where the candidate or party receiving the most votes in a specific electoral district wins according to the system's rules, creating clear winners but potentially leaving many voters unrepresented.

Spärregel

An electoral threshold that normally requires a political party to secure at least $4\%$ of the nationwide vote to gain seats in parliament.

Personval

A personal vote option where the voter can select and mark a specific individual candidate within a political party.

RF – Regeringsformen

The Instrument of Government, which is one of Sweden's four fundamental laws (grundlagar).

TF – Tryckfrihetsförordningen

The Freedom of the Press Act, which is one of Sweden's four fundamental laws (grundlagar).

YGL – Yttrandefrihetsgrundlagen

The Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression, which is one of Sweden's four fundamental laws (grundlagar).

SO – Successionsordningen

The Act of Succession, which is one of Sweden's four fundamental laws (grundlagar).

Ändra grundlag

The constitutional amendment process requiring two identical parliamentary decisions separated by a general election: Beslut 1 → riksdagsval → beslut 2.

Direkt demokrati

A form of democracy where citizens vote directly on specific political issues, such as in a referendum (folkomröstning).

Representativ demokrati

A form of democracy where citizens elect politicians to make political decisions on their behalf, which is the primary system used in Sweden.

Majoritetsprincipen

The principle that the option receiving the most votes wins, while requiring the majority to respect the fundamental rights of minorities and individual persons.

Rättssäkerhet

Legal certainty requiring that the state and public authorities abide by the law and treat people fairly, preventing arbitrary punishment and limiting the power of those in authority.

Monarki

A system of government where the head of state is a king or queen. Sweden is a constitutional monarchy.

Republik

A system of government where the head of state is typically an elected president.

Grundlagar

Fundamental laws containing core rules for governing Sweden and protecting democracy. They are harder to amend than ordinary laws to prevent temporary political majorities from changing democratic rules quickly.

Demokrati

A governance system where citizens influence power through free and fair elections, protected by freedom of speech, free media, rule of law, and competing political alternatives that allow rulers to be scrutinized and replaced.

Diktatur

A governance system where power is concentrated in a single person or small group, where opposition can be banned, media censored, and public criticism of rulers restricted.

Starkt svar på provet

An exam response structure that expands beyond defining a concept by progressing through: Förklara → utveckla → ge exempel → jämför → resonera om konsekvenser.