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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 September 2013
The joint standing committees of the Swedish Parliament are unique institutions of particular interest to the political analyst. They are the very linchpin of the legislative process in Sweden; they mediate in the event of intercameral disputes; and they even arrogate to themselves quasi-governmental powers when the government cannot muster a majority in the legislature.
1 The best introductory account in English of the Swedish parliamentary system is Arneson's, Ben A.The Democratic Monarchies of Scandinavia (2nd ed.; New York, 1949)Google Scholar. On the committee system, Tingsten's, H.Utskottsväsendet (Stockholm, 1934), Vol. XIGoogle Scholar of the “Sveriges Riksdag” series which commemorates the Swedish Parliament's quincentenary, is an excellent and authoritative work, but is out of date in certain respects.
2 This nomenclature differs slightly from that used by Arneson. I prefer “Appropriations” to “Finance,” since several committees have financial functions. I have used “Basic Laws” rather than “Constitutional Amendments,” since I think the latter suggests too narrow a concept to cover the various different aspects of the committee's work as a “watchdog” of the constitution. The really difficult ones to translate are the three “lagutskott”: it seems impossible to avoid ambiguity. “Legislative Committees” on the whole I prefer to “Committees on Judicial Matters,” since No. 2 can only be given the latter title by a stretch.
3 Malmgren, Robert, Särskilda utskott (Lund, 1908)Google Scholar.
4 In 1950 there were only three advokater in the Second Chamber and one in the First. But a half-dozen or more additional members were also legally trained in some capacity or other. Thus, we find that the chairman of the 3rd Legislative Committee was a Professor of Law at Uppsala University, while the chairman of the 1st Legislative Committee had served as a judge in the Courts of Appeal. Vem är vem, Almanack för alla, 1950, Statskalendern, 1950, and a small pamphlet entitled Riksdagens ledamöter are the sources for this information.
5 Riksdagsordningen, Arts. 36(2), 50(2).
6 Thia does not mean that the secretariat never influences the decision which its committee reaches. As one Swedish observer has put it, “As the competence of the M.P.s declines, so the importance of the secretariat increases” (Junius [ProfessorHeckscher, Eli], “Hur Sverige Regeras,” Svensk Tidskrift [1923], p. 93)Google Scholar.
7 Hansson, Per-Albin, Svensk Hållning och Handling (Stockholm, 1945), p. 57Google Scholar. (Speech of January 10, 1940.)
8 Bertil Ohlin, the leader of the Liberal party (Folkpartiet), published an interesting article on party policy in Samtid och Framtid, pp. 326–335 (June–Aug., 1945)Google Scholar.
9 Regeringsform, Art. 49; Riksdagsordning, Art. 1.
10 For an excellent account of the workings of joint voting in practice, see Thulin, , Sammanjämkning och gemensam votering (Stockholm, 1935), Vol. XGoogle Scholar of “Sveriges Riksdag.”
11 Reglementariska Föreskrifter för Riksdagen, Art. 7.
12 Political journals such as Svensk Tidskrift (Right) and Tiden (Social Democrat) contain useful information on this subject. Gerdner's, GunnarDet svenska regeringsproblemet, 1917–1920 (Uppsala, 1946)Google Scholar helps to explain the period when democracy finally broke through in Sweden, while von Zweigbergk, Otto, in Svensk politik, 1905–1929 (Stockholm, 1929)Google Scholar, furnishes some interesting information on the entire decade following 1921.
13 Nyman, Olle, Svensk parlamentarism, 1932–86. Från minoritetsparlamentarismen till majoritetskoalition (Uppsala, 1947)Google Scholar, and Nyman, , Krisuppgörelsen mellan socialdemokraterna och bondeförbundet 1933 (Uppsala, 1944)Google Scholar, are useful on this transitional period between minority and majority government in Sweden.
14 Tingsten, H., Problem i svensk demokrati (Tidens Skriftserie 2, 1941)Google Scholar contains figures for the parliamentary strengths of all Swedish Governments, 1920–1936.
15 First Chamber debate of May 23, 1925.
16 Regeringsform, Arts. 106 and 107.
