History of the Riksdag that the number of seats from 1977 were to be reduced to 349. In 1974 a new Instrument of Government was established as a vital part of the Constitution and for the system of government. The monarchy was retained, whereas the monarch lost all formal political influence and became only a symbolic head of state. Several of the traditional head-of-state functions have instead been transferred to the Speaker of the Riksdag. History of the Riksdag The Riksdag is the national legislature of Sweden. However, when it was founded in 1866 Sweden did not have a parliamentary system of government. The
Riksdag of the Estates provinces to the Russian Empire. Comprising much of present-day Finland, these became a Grand Duchy under the Emperor, but the political institutions were kept practically intact. The Finnish estates assembled in 1809 at Porvoo to confirm the change in their allegiance. This Diet of Finland followed the forms of the Swedish Riksdag, being the legislative body of the new autonomous region. However, during the reigns of Alexander I and Nicholas I it was not assembled and no new legislation was enacted. The diet was next assembled by tsar Alexander II in 1863, due to the need to modernize the laws.