Riksdag Swedish king Gustav I Vasa to include representatives from all the four social estates: the nobility, the clergy, the burghers (property-owning commoners in the towns such as merchants etc.), and the yeomanry (freehold farmers). This form of "Ständestaat" representation lasted until 1865, when representation by estate was abolished and the modern bicameral parliament established. Effectively, however, it did not become a parliament in the modern sense until parliamentary principles were established in the political system in Sweden, in 1917. On 22 June 1866, the Riksdag decided to reconstitute itself as a bicameral legislature, consisting of "Första kammaren" or the First
Speaker of the Riksdag alternate and remain members of the Riksdag with voting rights. In case all adult members of the Swedish Royal Family who are in the line of succession to the Throne, as prescribed in the Act of Succession, are out of the country, the Speaker assumes the role of "Regent ad interim" (). This would also be the case if they were all to decease. The Speaker chairs the Riksdag Board (), which deliberates on the organisation of the work of the Riksdag, directs the work of the Riksdag Administration () and decides upon matters of major significance concerning the international