[4] The short-form name Regeringen ("the Government") is used both in the Basic Laws of Sweden and in the vernacular,[citation needed] while the long-form is only used in international treaties.

But it traces its history back to the Middle Ages when the Privy Council of Sweden was formed in the 12th century.

It functioned in this capacity until 1789 when King Gustav III had it abolished when the Riksdag passed the Union and Security Act.

In Denmark and Norway, the monarch is at least the nominal chief executive, but is bound by convention to act on the advice of the cabinet.

[16][17] In a unique feature of the Swedish constitutional system, individual cabinet ministers do not bear any individual ministerial responsibility for the performance of the agencies within their portfolio; as the director-generals and other heads of government agencies report directly to the Government as a whole, the ministers also cannot intervene in matters that are to be handled by the specific government agencies, unless otherwise provided for in law; thus the origin of the pejorative, in Swedish political parlance, ministerstyre (English: "ministerial rule").

[16] In most other parliamentary systems (monarchies and republics alike) this formal function is usually vested in the head of state but exercised by ministers in such name.

The Riksdag can cast a vote of no confidence against any single cabinet minister (Swedish: statsråd), thus forcing a resignation.

To succeed a vote of no confidence must be supported by an absolute majority (175 members) or it has failed.

If a vote of no confidence is cast against the Prime Minister this means the entire government is rejected.

A losing government has one week to call for a general election or else the procedure of nominating a new Prime Minister starts anew.

The present organizational charter for the Government Offices is found in the ordinance named Förordning (1996:1515) med instruktion för Regeringskansliet.

Since the issuance of that ordinance in 1996, all the ministries are technically entities within the Government Offices (headed by the Prime Minister), rather than as separate organisations even though they operate as such.