Sweden in its founding is a monarchy as well as a democracy, and as such has a parliament called the Riksdag. Within this parliament sit 349 members from different political parties, each expressing their opinions on legislative issues discussed within their unicameral legislature. Riksdag seats are elected proportionally to the amount of votes the party receives from the Swedish people in the elections. This means that if a party receives 20% of the Swedish vote, it will receive 20% of the 349 seats; the next elections will be held in September 2014. Furthermore, there are 349 seats to avoid the occurrence of a hypothetical issue with an equal number of votes for two different decisions, which would not be decisive nor effective because it would force the Riksdag to discuss the issue further and hold another vote on the same issue. “All power comes from the people. This is the foundation of parliamentary democracy in Sweden. Everyone has the same rights, the same opportunity to have their say, and everyone is free to control how politicians and public bodies exercise their power." ("The Swedish system of government.") Sweden's constitution consists of four basic laws and other laws that protect democracy, as well as the freedom and fundamental rights of its citizens; laws outline the ground rules for all political decisions and conflicts. The guidelines for elections and how they should work are mainly mentioned in the third chapter of the Swedish constitution, “The Parliament”. This chapter discusses the legislation on who has the right to vote; every Swedish citizen currently residing in...... middle of paper ......en.se/en/Members-and-parties/>."Sweden - Constitution." ICL. International Constitutional Law Project, nd Web. 9 April 2014. "The Committees". Riksdagen. Swedish Riksdag, n.d. Web. 9 April 2014. “The Swedish System of Government.” Sweden.se. Swedish Government, nd Web. 9 April 2014. "Vår Politik." Social Democratic. The Social Democratic Party, n.d. Web. 09 April 2014. "Vår Politik - Nya Moderaterna." Moderate. The Moderate Party, nd Web. 9 April 2014. "What does the Riksdag do?" Riksdagen. Swedish Riksdag, nd Web. 9 April. 2014. .