Speaker of the Riksdag office are set out on the Instrument of Government (1974) and the Riksdag Act. The speaker does not take part in the debates, nor does the speaker participate in the parliamentary committees. While the Speaker is one of the elected representatives of the Riksdag, the speaker is expected to remain unbiased and objective with regards to the political issues that are debated. The speaker has no vote in the Riksdag, but the incumbent could use their vote as a member of the Riksdag if a tie appears. The position of speaker is the second highest ranked public position in Sweden.
History of the Riksdag reflected the lines of division in Swedish society: the nobility, the clergy, the burghers and the peasantry. Under the Instrument of Government of 1809 the Riksdag shared the powers of government with the King. On the basis of the 1863 electoral reform bill the Estates voted in 1866 to dissolve the Riksdag of the Estates and establish a new Riksdag. The new Riksdag was a political assembly with two chambers where the members were chosen in national elections. The revolution was that citizens could participate and vote in the elections without regard to which Estate they had hitherto belonged; instead