The Government’s governance of the Swedish Social Insurance Agency

Abstract

This article examines how the Government acts when it comes to steering that the Swedish Social Insurance Agency fulfills its various commitments. The Swedish Social Insurance Agency, like other authorities, is governed by the Parliament and the Government with several tools. Through annual appropriation letters, the Government specifies the requirements that are incumbent on the Social Insurance Agency and that the Government considers to be the most central and noteworthy. The appropriation letter also states whether the Swedish Social Insurance Agency's fulfillment of these requirements, which must be made to the government, is reported back. The Swedish Social Insurance Agency's basic mission, to investigate, decide on and pay various benefits, has remained relatively constant since the agency was formed in 2005. At the same time, the Swedish Social Insurance Agency's activities are constantly exposed to political influence when it comes to how the agency conducts its activities, especially when it comes to health insurance. The empirical study clarifies how law in a certain respect and over a certain period of time has shaped itself from an inside perspective. Although the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, like other authorities, must implement the policies that the Parliament and the Government have decided on, it is central to point out that the Parliament and the Government may not decide how the authority should decide in a matter concerning the exercise of authority against an individual or how the authority should apply a law.