- Sotenäs kommun
- | Municipal democracy
Municipal democracy
Politics
You can have your say in the Municipality of Sotenäs
To be able to influence life for you and your family, you need to know how things work here in the Municipality of Sotenäs. You need to know how to obtain information about various issues and how you can influence the people who make decisions in the municipality.
This information is designed to help you get to know Swedish society.
Power proceeds from the people
Sweden is a democracy. In a democracy, people have the freedom to voice their thoughts and opinions. The citizens of Sweden decide who governs the country, so in fact the power proceeds from the people.
The Riksdag (Sweden´s parliament) has 349 members elected by the public and is Sweden´s highest decision-making assembly. Sweden is divided into self-governing municipalities to ensure that decisions on issues which affect people´s everyday lives are made closer to the people. The Municipality of Sotenäs is one of Sweden´s 290 municipalities.
Municipal democracy is also based on the idea that it is the citizens who have the power. Since it is impossible to always ask the population about all issues, people living in the municipality elect politicians to represent them. The politicians are elected by local people, and it is these local people who influence municipal decisions through the politicians.
A municipality is responsible for issues such as schools, pre-school, care for the elderly, care and assistance for the disabled, health and the environment, rescue services, leisure and culture, electricity, water, sewage and sanitation. People living in the municipality have to pay tax to the municipality so it can afford to pay for all these things. Most citizens pay much more tax to the municipality than the state.
Municipal council — the municipality´s ‘parliament´
The municipal council is the municipality´s highest decision-making assembly, so in effect it is the municipality´s ‘parliament´.
The council politicians elected by the people must listen to the citizens — otherwise they cannot put forward voters´ views. It is therefore important that the politicians stay in touch with their voters, and that you, a citizen, make your opinions about the municipality heard. Read more about all this in the following text.
Hallindenvägen 17, 456 80 Kungshamn | 0523-66 40 00 | info@sotenas.se | om webbplatsen