Skip to content
SVERIGEFAKTA.com
Culture & values

Institutional language

Government language — how the concepts changed, 1994 → 2022

No published time series tracks word frequency year by year across the full SOU corpus. The documents themselves exist, however. Three steering documents from three decades, same field, word for word.

Memory

Ordet ‘värdegrund’ förekom knappt före 1992. Idag är det ett standardbegrepp i skolans, försvarets och vårdens styrdokument. ‘Normkritik’ och ‘intersektionalitet’ etablerades i statliga utredningar under 2000- och 2010-talen.

Lpo 94 — ‘rättvisa mellan könen’

1994

Skolverket

Lgr 22 — ‘motverka könsmönster’

2022

Skolverket

How to read this

Data in context

How to read this

The charts below show what the numbers say — not an interpretation. Where data point in different directions (e.g. stable trust but rising insecurity) we show both series rather than pick a narrative.

Three steering documents from three decades — word for word (quotes remain in Swedish)

Skolans uppdrag — läroplanen

Then · 1994

“Skolan har en viktig uppgift när det gäller att förmedla och hos eleverna förankra de grundläggande värden som vårt samhällsliv vilar på.”

Lpo 94 (Läroplan för det obligatoriska skolväsendet)

Now · 2022

“Skolan ska aktivt och medvetet främja elevernas lika rättigheter och möjligheter oberoende av könstillhörighet samt motverka könsmönster som begränsar elevernas lärande, val och utveckling.”

Lgr 22 (Läroplan för grundskolan, reviderad)

Integrationsmål — regeringsskrivelse

Then · 1996

“Integrationspolitiken bör utgå från att samhället består av människor med olika bakgrund och att alla har samma rättigheter och skyldigheter.”

SOU 1996:55 — Sverige, framtiden och mångfalden

Now · 2014

“Strukturella ojämlikheter måste förstås intersektionellt — kön, etnicitet, sexualitet och funktionalitet samspelar i maktordningar som reproduceras institutionellt.”

SOU 2014:34 — Inte bara jämställdhet

Jämställdhetspolitik — regeringens skrivelse

Then · 1994

“Målet är jämställdhet mellan kvinnor och män — lika möjligheter, rättigheter och skyldigheter inom livets alla områden.”

Regeringens skrivelse 1993/94:147

Now · 2016

“Jämställdhetspolitiken ska bedrivas utifrån ett intersektionellt perspektiv och bidra till att motverka normer som upprätthåller över- och underordning.”

Regeringens skrivelse 2016/17:10 — Makt, mål och myndighet

Human consequence

Persona

En lärare som följt tre läroplaner under sin yrkesbana.

Then

  • 1994: arbetar enligt Lpo 94 — ‘grundläggande värden’, ‘etik’, ‘kunskap’.
  • Inga skrivningar om normkritik eller intersektionalitet.

Now

  • 2022: arbetar enligt Lgr 22 — ‘motverka könsmönster’, ‘främja lika rättigheter oavsett könstillhörighet’.
  • Kompetensutveckling inkluderar normkritisk pedagogik och inkluderande språkbruk.

2035

Om Lgr 22 är ‘nuet’ — vilka ord kommer Lgr 35 att innehålla, och vilka kommer att ha försvunnit?

Sources for this page

The data comes from official primary sources.

Read the full investigation of how Sweden has changed.

Back to overview →

The question this page answers

How has the language of Swedish public authorities changed over time — and what can changed word choices actually tell us about policy, law and social outlook?

At a glance

Key figures — the most important numbers on this page

Language Act (2009:600)

2009

§ 11: language in public activity shall be cultivated, simple and comprehensible (plain language).

Administrative Procedure Act (2017:900)

2017

§ 9: simple, fast, cost-effective — and comprehensible language toward individuals.

Plain-language work institutionalised

1974

Language experts in the Prime Minister's Office (later Government Offices); Plain-Language Group 1993–2006.

The Language Council sits within Isof

Isof

Institute for Language and Folklore — the agency that provides language advice to the state, regions and municipalities.

Terminology mandate moved

TNC → Isof (2018)

The Swedish Centre for Terminology (TNC) closed in 2018; the National Term Bank is now maintained by Isof.

Annual steering document from government

Appropriation letter

Sets tasks, targets and reporting requirements — can influence the terms an agency uses.

Ordinance setting an agency's remit

Agency instruction

Amended by government decision; changed terms in the instruction are legally binding.

Binding vs advisory

Regulation ≠ guidance

A regulation is a binding norm; general advice is guidance on application.

What does the data show?

Objective observations — not interpretations

  • A changed word in a public document records a linguistic change at a specific point in time — it does not automatically prove a changed legal meaning or a political motive.
  • Public-authority language can change for at least four separate reasons: (1) new legislation or EU law, (2) government assignments/appropriation letters, (3) terminology decisions by Isof/National Term Bank, (4) plain-language work to improve comprehensibility.
  • The same word can carry different meanings in law, in statistics and in everyday language (e.g. ‘child’, ‘household’, ‘unemployed’, ‘homeless’, ‘newly arrived’) — comparisons require keeping the definitions apart.
  • Plain language (Language Act § 11) requires cultivated, simple and comprehensible text — which sometimes means older legal terms are replaced by more everyday variants without changing substance.
  • A term-frequency analysis shows when a word is used and how often — it does not show why it was chosen, whether the meaning is unchanged, or whether the text is actually read differently.
  • Historical documents are often harder to search digitally (OCR quality, different archives, changed document types) — low hit counts in older material does not necessarily indicate low usage.

Method note
Analyses of public-authority language require every example to be anchored in a concrete document (SFS, SOU, government bill, decision number, or Isof reference), with date, responsible actor and a judgement on whether the change is legal, administrative, communicative or editorial. We use word frequencies only when the corpus and search string are disclosed — and we always separate frequency from motive. Individual documents do not represent the whole agency, and a selection of controversial examples can produce a skewed picture even when every citation is correct.

Definitions

How the numbers are counted — and what they do not cover

Public-authority language
The language used by state and municipal authorities in decisions, statutes, letters and communication with individuals.
Administrative language
Near synonym, used especially of the language found in administrative-law decisions and case handling.
Plain language (klarspråk)
Cultivated, simple and comprehensible language in public activity. Required under the Swedish Language Act (2009:600) § 11.
Legal term
A word with an established legal meaning in statute, preparatory works or case law. May differ from ordinary usage.
Legal definition
A definition set out directly in a statute (often in section 1–2) that governs how a concept is to be interpreted in that specific law.
Public communication
All outward communication from a public authority — decisions, letters, websites, reports, press releases.
Steering document
Umbrella term for statute, ordinance, agency instruction, appropriation letter, regulations, general advice and internal guidelines governing an agency.
Regulation (föreskrift)
A binding norm decided by an agency under authorisation in statute or ordinance. Published in the agency's own body of regulations.
General advice
Guidance on how a regulation or law should be applied. Not binding but weighed in supervision.
Government assignment
A written assignment from the government to an agency to carry out a specified task, often with reporting requirements.
Appropriation letter
Annual steering document from the government to each agency, setting objectives, tasks, financial frameworks and reporting requirements.
Agency instruction
An ordinance setting out an agency's tasks, leadership and organisation. Amended by government decision.
Terminology
Systematically established technical terms within a field. In Sweden, agreed terminology is collected in the National Term Bank.
Concept definition
A precise description of what a concept covers and how it is delimited. Found in law, standards or term databases.
Language policy
Written guidelines of an agency or organisation on language choices, forms of address, accessibility and plain language.
Inclusive language
Word choices aimed at avoiding unnecessarily gender-marked, exclusionary or stereotyping wording. Recommendations are given in the Swedish Public Authorities' Writing Rules.
Euphemism
A milder or more neutral expression replacing a harsher or sensitive word. Can be legitimate or criticised as circumlocution.
Circumlocution
Expressing something with words other than the direct term — a stylistic choice, a plain-language measure or a euphemism, depending on purpose and effect.
Objectivity (saklighet)
Requirement under Instrument of Government 1:9 that public authorities observe objectivity and impartiality, including in the language of decisions.
Impartiality
Requirement under Instrument of Government 1:9: authorities must treat like cases alike and not show partiality in assessment or presentation.
Comprehensibility
That the text can be understood by its intended reader. A basic requirement under Language Act § 11 and Administrative Procedure Act § 9.
Standardisation
Establishing recommended language norms, e.g. through the Public Authorities' Writing Rules or the Swedish Academy's Word List.
The Language Council
A division within the Institute for Language and Folklore (Isof) that provides language advice to public authorities, municipalities and regions.
Public Authorities' Writing Rules
Handbook issued by Isof/Government Offices with recommendations for writing in public texts (latest main edition 2014, with ongoing updates).

Primary sources

Agencies and research institutions behind this page

6

agencies/institutions

8

reports & studies

3

primary datasets

Frequently asked questions

Short answers to what is most often discussed

It is the language used by state and municipal authorities in decisions, statutes, letters and communication. It consists of three layers governing different things: legal specialist language (binding via law), administrative language (procedural terms) and everyday language (for communication with individuals). Plain-language requirements in the Language Act and Administrative Procedure Act mainly hit the two latter layers.

Related topics

Logical next steps if you want to understand the background

Recommended reading next →

Chapter 4Unread

Pride — movement to institution

4 minRead
Chapter 4Unread

Media vs reality

5 minRead