Early general elections were held in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

between 10 and 26 September 1921. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1858 In the first elections held under

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stanc ...

, the

Swedish Social Democratic Party The Swedish Social Democratic Party, formally the Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party ( sv, Sveriges socialdemokratiska arbetareparti ; S/SAP), usually referred to as The Social Democrats ( sv, link=no, Socialdemokraterna ), is a social-d ...

remained the largest party, winning 93 of the 230 seats in the Second Chamber of the

Riksdag The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and se ...

. Party leader

Hjalmar Branting Karl Hjalmar Branting (; 23 November 1860 – 24 February 1925) was a Swedish politician who was the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP) from 1907 until his death in 1925, and three times Prime Minister of Sweden. When Branting cam ...

formed his second government.

Background

Before the elections in 1921, the Social Democratic Left Party of Sweden accepted Lenin's April Theses. It was renamed the

Communist Party of Sweden The name Communist Party of Sweden ( sv, Sveriges Kommunistiska Parti, link=no, abbreviated SKP) has been used by several political parties in Sweden: * Left Party (Sweden), known as the Communist Party of Sweden from 1921 to 1967 ** Communist Part ...

, whilst a breakaway faction of some 6,000 socialists who had been excluded by the communists as ''non-revolutionary elements'' kept the previous name.

Electoral system

Ballot papers for 1921 Swedish general election

In 1921, universal and equal

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...

was introduced for men and women alike, and the Riksdag finally achieved a system of democratic representation for all

citizen Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

s who were at least 23 years old on election day. Nevertheless, it was still possible, even after 1921, to exclude certain groups from the right to vote. An example was individuals who had been declared incapable of managing their own affairs by a court of law. This limitation of the franchise disappeared only in 1989 when the Riksdag abolished incapacitation. It signified the five first women MPs to be elected to the Swedish Parliament after the women suffrage of 1919, with

Kerstin Hesselgren Kerstin Hesselgren (14 January 1872 – 19 August 1962) was a Swedish politician. Hesselgren became the first woman to be elected into the Upper House of the Swedish Parliament after female suffrage was introduced in 1921. She was elected by sugg ...

in the Upper chamber, and

Nelly Thüring Nelly Maria Thüring (21 June 1875, in Vankiva – 2 January 1972, in Enskede), was a Swedish photographer and politician (Social Democrat). She was one of the first five women elected to the Swedish parliament in 1921. Biography Thüring was ...

(Social Democrat), Agda Östlund (Social Democrat)

Elisabeth Tamm Elisabeth Tamm (30 June 1880, at the manor Fogelstad in Julita, Södermanlands län – 23 September 1958) was a Swedish liberal politician and women's rights activist. She was known in the parliament as ''Tamm i Fogelstad'' ("Tamm of Fogel ...

(liberal) and

Bertha Wellin Bertha Wellin (11 September 1870 – 27 July 1951) was a Swedish politician (Conservative) and nurse. She was one of the first five women to be elected to the Swedish parliament. Life Bertha Wellin was the daughter of the tax collector of Vickl ...

(Conservative) in the Lower chamber. Alongside the universal franchise reform, a

parliamentary system of government A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

developed and gained acceptance, implying that the government requires the Riksdag's confidence and support for all major decisions. As of 1921, all major treaties with foreign states had to be approved by the Riksdag, and the two chambers of the Riksdag now elected their own

Speakers Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

along with two deputy speakers each.

Results

Aftermath

As a result of the election Prime Minister

Oscar von Sydow Oscar Fredrik von Sydow (12 July 1873 – 19 August 1936) was a Swedish politician who served briefly as Prime Minister of Sweden from 23 February to 13 October 1921. Biography Oscar von Sydow was the son of Henrik August von Sydow, a magist ...

resigned and was replaced by

who also became Foreign Minister of Sweden. Although the non-socialist parties held a majority in the second chamber, Branting was able to hold office through being the largest party and reaching cross-ideological consensus in the chamber. The centre-right majority took over the governing in 1923 under

Ernst Trygger Ernst Trygger (27 October 1857 – 23 September 1943) was a Swedish jurist professor and conservative politician. He served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1923 to 1924. He also served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1928 to 1930 in the ...

following a parliamentary loss for the Social Democrats over unemployment protection.

Notes

References

*''

Nordisk familjebok ''Nordisk familjebok'' (, "Nordic Family Book") is a Swedish encyclopedia that was published in print from between 1876 and 1993, and that is now fully available in digital form via Project Runeberg at Linköping University. Despite their consi ...

'', (''Owl edition''), 2nd ed., Stockholm : Nordisk familjeboks förlags aktiebolag, 1904-1926 {{Swedish elections General elections in Sweden

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...