The (literally "First Chamber", often abbreviated 'FK'; referred to in some non-Swedish sources as the Senate) was the

upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

of the

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate Deliberative assembly, assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate ...

Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

between 1866 and 1970 that replaced the

Riksdag of the Estates Riksdag of the Estates (; informally ) was the name used for the Estates of Sweden when they were assembled. Until its dissolution in 1866, the institution was the highest authority in Sweden next to the King. It was a Diet made up of the Fou ...

. During the bicameral period, the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the Riksdag was the

Andra kammaren The Andra kammaren (lit. "Second Chamber", often abbreviated 'AK'; referred to in some non-Swedish sources as the Chamber of Deputies) was the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Riksdag of Sweden between 1866 and 1970 that replaced the R ...

(literally "the Second Chamber"). Both chambers had generally similar and parallel powers. At the time of its abolition, the First Chamber had 151 members. These were indirectly elected for eight-year terms of office, from amongst the county councils (''landsting'') and city councils (''stadsfullmäktige''), which formed electoral colleges, some of which holding elections every year, with local elections being held every four years in even years when elections to the Second Chamber were not due to be held. During a large portion of the long tenure of power for the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

(between 1932 and 1976), the party remained in control of legislation thanks to its strong position in the First Chamber. If the two chambers made contradictory decisions in budgetary matters, they were required to meet in joint assembly to make a "coherent" decision on the issue. In other matters, no legislative outcomes could be established if the two houses were in disagreement, but issues could re-addressed by submitting a new proposal. Co-ordination between the two chambers was facilitated by the Riksdag having standing joint committees composed of members from both chambers. This is rare for two-chamber systems, which generally only employ temporary joint mediation committees to resolve a dispute between the chambers, or reserve standing joint committees for very narrow functions.The Parliamentary Role of Joint Standing Committees in Sweden
Neil C. M. Elder, '' The American Political Science Review'', Vol. 45, No. 2 (Jun., 1951), pp. 464

Literature

* ''Little encyclopaedia'', publisher: Nordic AB, Malmö 1974, page 8, column 139 ff. * ''Foreign political systems'', Oxford University Press 1995, Rutger Lindahl (ed.)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forsta Kammaren Defunct upper houses 20th century in Sweden Legislative buildings in Europe Political history of Sweden 1866 establishments in Sweden Politics of Sweden Riksdag

See also

Literature

References