Improving the Swedish Constitution

Abstract

Although the Swedish constitutions have been among the best in the world for the past century and a half, the current Swedish constitution has performed less well than some of the best-performing alternatives; indeed, the most recent constitution can be said to have performed less well in some respects than the previous one. The latter, together with the normative theory of governance developed in part II of this book, suggests that it is clearly possible to improve the present Swedish constitution. The present chapter provides a number of suggestions grounded in that analysis and in recent Swedish experience. The suggestions offered are not intended to be definitive or necessarily taken as a whole, but are intended to characterize a few constitutional reforms that can improve Swedish governance in the present context. Essentially all of the suggestions are within the range of Swedish experience and may in that sense be regarded as feasible, at least in principle, although this is not the primary concern of the present discussion.