Local and Regional authority
Local authority
Sweden has an ancient tradition of local authority in local matters, but in the 16th century the rule of the country was centralised and the local authorities lost much of their power. In the middle of the 19th century, attempts to restore the local authority were made; these local authorities are called Kommuner.
Sweden is divided into 289 municipalitities "kommuner" with an average size of 30 000 residents. Each kommun has its own parliament and government. The local parliament, "Kommunfullmäktige", is elected in general elections, held every fourth year, at the same time as the election to the national parliament. From the kommunfullmäktige the local government, "kommunstyrelsen", is formed.
The local authorities perform many important tasks in Swedish (and Scandinavian) society, more than in many other European countries. For example, the duties of the local authorities is to handle education (except universities), social care, building control, control of the environment, health care and culture and recreation. The main sources of income are local taxes and subsidies from the State. The Swedish Association of Local Authorities
Stockholm's famous landmark - the City Hall, built 1911-1923 in renaissance style. It is the seat of the local authority in Stockholm. This is also where the annual Nobel Prize banquet takes place on December 10th every year. Photo: T. Buckman