the incorporation of this project in its programme, and,
April 21, 1909, the Constitutional Committee of the Riksdag
recommended the adoption of a measure whereby women should be accorded
the parliamentary suffrage and eligibility to sit as members of either
chamber. In May, 1911, the essentials of this recommendation were
accepted by the lower chamber by a vote of 120 to 92, but by the upper
they were rejected overwhelmingly. At the opening of the Riksdag of
1912 the Speech from the Throne announced the purpose of the
Government to introduce a measure for the enfranchisement of women,
and during the session the promise was redeemed by the bringing (p. 597)
forward of a bill in accordance with whose terms every Swede, without
distinction of sex, over twenty-four years of age and free from legal
disabilities, may vote for members of the lower chamber.

[Footnote 830: In the main, the scheme of
proportional representation adopted in Sweden is
similar to that in operation in Belgium (see pp.
542-545). Electors are expected to write at the
head of their ballot papers the name or motto of
their party. The papers bearing the same name or
emblem are then grouped together, the numbers in
each group are ascertained, and the seats available
are allotted to these groups in accordance with the
d'Hondt rule, irrespective of the number of votes
obtained by individual candidates. The candidate
receiving the largest number of votes is declared
elected. The papers on which his name appears are
then marked down to the value of one-half, the
relative position of the remaining candidates is
ascertained afresh, and the highest of these is
declared elected, and so on. Unlike the Belgian
system, the Swedish plan provides for the allotment
of but a single seat at a time. Humphreys,
Proportional Representation, 296-313.]

III. THE RIKSDAG IN OPERATION--POLITICAL PARTIES

*661. Organization and Procedure.*--By the Riksdag law of 1866 the king
is required to summon the chambers annually and empowered to convene
extraordinary sessions as occasion may demand. It is wi