Swedish general election, 1921

The Swedish general election held in 1921 ( _sv. Riksdagsmannavalet till andra kammaren), was the General election to the second chamber of the Swedish Diet, (the Riksdag), and the first fully democratically elected Parliament of Sweden. The Social Democratic Party with leader Hjalmar Branting formed its second government.

In 1921, a universal and equal franchise was introduced for men and women alike, and the Riksdag finally achieved a system of democratic representation for all citizens 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.

Alongside the universal franchise reform, a parliamentary system of government 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 along with two deputy speakers each.

Before the elections in 1921, the Swedish Socialist Left Party accepted Lenin's April Theses, and accordingly split in two parties: the Communist Party and the Social Democratic Left Party - a party which was formed by some 6,000 socialists who hade been excluded by the communists as "non-revolutionary elements".

References

* "Nordisk familjebok", ("Owl edition"), 2nd ed., Stockholm : Nordisk familjeboks förlags aktiebolag, 1904-1926.

ee also

* Elections in Sweden