APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200090019-6
Finance and Economy, and Social Affairs. Both the Justice Ombudsman and the Chancellor of Justice are empowered to investigate the activities of provincial and local government officials and prosecute or arrange for prosecution for dereliction of duty.
For administrative purposes, Sweden is divided into provinces and towns, boroughs, and rural communes. All are responsive to their respective constituencies.
a. Provincial government
Each of the 24 provinces (lanner), is headed by a governor (landshovding); the city of Stockholm has special status and is administered by a governor general. Each governor is assisted by an administrative staff - the provincial executive board and the Office of the Governor General in Stockholm. The governors and top officials of their staffs, although appointed by the King-in-Council, follow the directives of the Ministry of Interior, to which they are in most cases responsible. The governors act as the principal agents of the national government, insuring that national laws are carried out and that national interests and property are protected. The provincial executive boards administer and supervise a variety of activities, including tax assessment and collection, civil defense, social welfare, firefighting, roads and traffic control, and police. The provincial chief of police is directly responsible to the board and is considered a board official. The police chiefs of Stockholm, Goteborg, Malmo, and Norrkoping are independent of the provincial chiefs of police but are responsible to the provincial board, or in the case of Stockholm to the Office of the Governor General.
Each province is governed by a council; densely populated Kalmar is divided into two administrative areas. Provincial councils are elected every 3 years on a proportional representation system by all citizens 18 years of age and over. Each council selects an executive committee of at least five members who may be members of the council or brought in from outside. This committee prepares and administers the budget, manages property, prepares an annual report of government activities for the council, and represents the council between sessions. It must approve all matters to be brought before the council except when the board calls a special session of the council. Special meetings of the council may also be called by the members, the executive committee, or the King-in-Council. Procedures are similar to those of the Riksdag. Legislative proposals may be made by the governor, the provincial board, the council itself, or individual members. Council decisions are considered to be ordinances, not laws. Provincial council legislation deals principally with health and care of sick, vocational and adult education, and social welfare. The densely populated cities of Goteborg, Malmo, and Norrkoping are governed by semiautonomous city councils that deal directly with the national government, maintaining only limited ties to their respective provinces. Greater Stockholm is governed by a joint city and provincial council of 100 popularly elected members. It appoints a board of 12 aldermen from its own members to supervise administrative functions. This council also elects nine directors to head the city departments - finance, property, social welfare, cultural and educational matters, industry, city employees, hospitals, suburban planning, and housing and construction.
b. Local government
In 1970 the basic units of local government accounted for 848 local administrative councils. In 1946 the Riksdag approved a proposal to consolidate the many sparsely populated rural communes into larger ones, a process which continues gradually. The 2,281 communes which existed in 1952 had been reduced to 624 in 1970 by a process of merger and consolidation. In addition to the communes, 132 towns and 92 boroughs have elected local governments. The process of consolidation aims at achieving an efficient proportion of population in every local unit in 1975. Industrial development and expansion could cause shifts in population that will require additional restructuring of the local governments after 1975, but the basic framework will have been developed.
Each local government is headed by a council, elected on a proportional representation basis by all citizens 20 years of age and over, with a membership ranging from 15 to 60. The council appoints an executive committee consisting of five to 11 members; it prepares the agenda for council meetings, administers property, directs administration, and generally protects local interests. The council also appoints other committees to deal with elections, construction, civil defense, health and care of the sick, and other community interests. Local as well as provincial governments may levy taxes; they may also borrow money with the approval of the national government. With the consent of the King-in-Council, heavily populated areas within a rural commune have been formed into special communities; these units remain part of the rural communes but have councils of their own to deal with special problems created by their urban characteristics.
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200090019-6
