Democracy in multiple layers in Sweden

Every day, you, your friends and your family, are all affected by things that other people have decided. You are affected by lots of political decisions, which have been made democratically. It might be something to do with school, traffic, sport centers, hospitals, police, unemployment benefits, or from what age you get graded in school. But all of these decisions aren't made in the same place, or even by the same people. Some decisions are made close to you, in your municipality.

Others relate to a larger area, a region of Sweden. And some apply to the entire country. Democracy in Sweden is arranged in three levels: municipality, region (or county), and the state. Every four years there's an election in Sweden; and if you are 18 years old by the date of that election, you can vote three times: You place one vote in the election for municipal council. And then you place another vote in the election for county council. ...

The county is a region, larger than a municipality. The third election is the one you hear most about: the election to the Riksdag. The Riksdag is the national parliament, responsible for all of Sweden. You might vote for different parties in the three different elections. You can also skip voting in one or more of them.

But hang on a minute - three different elections, where we can vote differently, how does this work really? A municipality is part of a county, and a county is part of the entire country. So who's in charge really? Well, the different levels have different areas of responsibility. The municipality deals with schools, preschools, keeping the streets tidy and free from snow, and care of the elderly.

The municipal council decides about things that mostly matter for people living in the municipality - and where it would be unnecessary to involve the region, or the country. In the county council, politicians make decisions about things that affect the entire region. The main responsibilities for the county are health care and public transport. Hospitals and public transport normally deal with people from quite a large area - covering more than one municipality - so it's practical if these things are dealt with at regional level. In the Riksdag, decisions are made that affect the entire country; Laws are made here, and police and armed forces are managed from here, as are air, rail, and major-road traffic.

It's also the national level that decides which curriculum should be taught in schools and from what age students get graded. Complicated? Yes, perhaps. But just think of how impractical, if the Riksdag would manage the sweeping of streets in every town over the entire country. Or if every municipality had to manage its own part of the country's military defence.

When this division of power works at its best, each issue is dealt with by those who are best at it, and at the level nearest those who are affected by it. But sometimes there's a conflict: Take school for instance. It used to be run almost entirely on the state level, but now the municipalities take care of most of it. This is an issue where politicians have different opinions, and that you can sometimes hear in political debates. Or take the environment: How we deal with rubbish and sewage is a municipal question, but the environment affects the entire region, or even country.

In fact, the environment is even bigger - it's an international issue. Quite a lot of environmental policy is therefore taken care of at EU-level. And at the EU level we also get to vote. Election to the European Parliament is not at the same time as the three other elections. But it's just as important.

Quite a large proportion of new laws passed in the Riksdag, are actually coming from the EU originally. So, we have three levels of democracy within Sweden, and four if we count the EU. Then you might have a student council in your school too. So then it's five levels.