Activities
Exhibitions
Along Mynttorget and Västerlånggatan in the Old Town in Stockholm, an exhibition has been in place since 2018 which gives form to and displays various parts of the democratisation process. The exhibition was opened on 17 December 2018, one hundred years to the day that the first agreements on universal and equal suffrage were reached in the Riksdag in 1918. The exhibition remains in place even after the centenary.
In addition to the Old Town, an additional exhibition about the advent of democracy was put in place in the Grand Gallery in the Riksdag building. Several of the exhibits toured the county museums and other places in Sweden up until 2022. The Speaker or one of the Deputy Speakers inaugurated the exhibitions at the district museums.
The poster exhibition Celebrate Democracy tells the story behind the decision on universal and equal suffrage. This was a reform which led to the advent of democracy in our country. The exhibition can be downloaded and displayed anywhere: in the classroom, in libraries or at the workplace.
Order the poster exhibition
Study material
On our website and in a magazine for use in upper-secondary schools, you can read about how the Riksdag took the decision to introduce universal and equal suffrage, about Sweden’s popular movements and how developments in technology expedited the process.
In study material for Years 4–6, pupils were given the opportunity to explore democracy using a timeline with an associated teachers’ guide and exercises. The study material and magazine can be ordered or downloaded.
Order study material
Anthologies about democracy
On 17 December in 2018, two anthologies with articles on the development of democracy and democratic processes today and in the future were published. Ten researchers write about their views on democracy and democratic challenges such as digitisation, globalisation and political participation in the anthology The Future of Democracy. The editors are Sören Holmberg and Katarina Barrling and it is published by the Swedish Parliament. The anthology can be both ordered and downloaded.
Order the Future of Democracy
Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, an independent foundation, sponsors the anthology A Hundred Years of Universal Suffrage. Within it, around thirty researchers gather and present the latest research on equal suffrage in the lead up to the centenary celebrations for the advent of democracy. The editors are Ulrika Holgersson and Lena Wängnerud.
About the centenary of equal suffrage on the Riksbank website
Meetings and public arenas
Over the years, the Riksdag has participated in events such as Politician’s Week in Järva and Almedalen and the Gothenburg Book Fair. Other activities that were carried out were culture nights, Democracy Days and inaugurations. Several members of the Riksdag visited schools in their constituencies to discuss the emergence, development and future of democracy.
