Politics of Switzerland
Switzerland is a federal republic, and perhaps the closest state in the world to a direct democracy, as for any change in the constitution, a referendum is mandatory; for any change in a law, a referendum can be requested - in practice, the people has the last word in every change of law some interest group disagrees with.
Executive branch
The Swiss Federal Council is the seven-member executive council ("cabinet") heads the executive branch. It's elected by the Federal Assembly for a four-year term. Present members are: Joseph Deiss, Samuel Schmid, Micheline Calmy-Rey, Pascal Couchepin, Christoph Blocher, Hans-Rudolf Merz and Moritz Leuenberger. See also: List of members of the Swiss Federal Council.
The largely ceremonial President of the Confederation and Vice-President are elected by the Federal Assembly from among the members of the Federal Council for one-year terms that run concurrently. Current President of the Confederation is Joseph Deiss and the Vice-President Samuel Schmid.
The Swiss executive is one of the most stable governments worldwide: From 1959 to 2003 the Federal Council was composed of a coalition of all major parties in the same ratio (2 Radical Free Party, 2 Social Democratic, 2 Christian Democratic, 1 Swiss People's Party). Changes in the council occurr in practice only, if one of the members resigned - this member was then replaced by someone from the same party (and preferably also the same language group and sex).
This "magic formula" has also been criticised -- in the 1960s for excluding leftist opposition parties, in the 1980s for excluding the emerging Green party, and after the 1999 election particularly by the People's Party, which had by then grown from the fourth largest to the largest party. In the elections of 2003 the People's Party (formerly the smallest of the 4 parties represented in the Federal Council) gained a plurality of seats in the National Council and received (effective January 1, 2004) a second seat in the Federal Council, reducing the share of the Christian Democratic party to 1 seat.
Legislative branch
Switzerland has a bicameral parliament, consisting of the
- the Council of States (46 seats - members serve four-year terms) and
- the National Council - members are elected by popular vote on a basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
The last elections to the National Council were held in 2003, see elections of 2003 for more details.
Judicial branch
Federal Supreme Court, judges elected for six-year terms by the Federal Assembly
Political conditions
Although it has a diverse society, Switzerland has a stable government. Most voters support the government in the armed neutrality underlying its foreign and defense policies. Domestic policy poses no major problems, but the changing international environment has generated a significant reexamination of Swiss policy in key areas such as defense, neutrality, and immigration. Quadrennial national elections typically produce only marginal changes in party representation.
In recent years, Switzerland has seen a gradual shift in the party landscape. The rightist Swiss People's Party (SVP), traditionally the junior partner in the four-party coalition government, more than doubled its voting share from 11.0% in 1987 to 22.5% in 1999, thus overtaking its three coalition partners. This shift in voting shares has put a strain on the "magic formula," the power-broking agreement of the four coalition parties (Since 1959 the seven-seat cabinet comprises 2 Free Democrats, 2 Christian Democrats, 2 Social Democrats, and 1 SVP). Recent cantonal elections results suggest that the SVP is likely to increase its voting share again in the 2003 federal elections, but it remains to be seen whether the magic formula will yield to accord it a second seat on the cabinet.
The Constitution limits federal influence in the formulation of domestic policy and emphasizes the roles of private enterprise and cantonal government. However, the Confederation has been compelled to enlarge its policymaking powers in recent years to cope with national problems such as education, agriculture, energy, environment, organized crime, and narcotics.
Political parties
Notes: ¹ Federal Council since 2004; ² Council of States, 2003; ³ National Council 2003 (members of party or caucus);
4 also rendered as: Radical Free Democratic Party or Liberal Democratic Party
Names in the national languages
| Abbr. | Party | German language name | French | Italian | Romansh
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| CVP/PDC | Christian Democratic People's Party | Christlichdemokratische Volkspartei der Schweiz or CVP | Parti Démocrate-Chrétien Suisse or PDC | Partito Democratico-Cristiano Popolare Svizzero or PDC | Partida Cristiandemocratica dalla Svizra or PCD
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|---|
| FDP/PRD | Free Democratic Party ¹ | Freisinnig-Demokratische Partei der Schweiz or FDP | Parti radical-démocratique suisse or PRD | Partito Liberal-Radicale Svizzero or PLR |
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| SPS/PSS | Social Democratic Party | Sozialdemokratische Partei der Schweiz or SPS | Parti Socialiste Suisse or PSS | Partito Socialista Svizzero or PSS | Partida Socialdemocratica de la Svizra or PSS
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| SVP/UDC | Swiss People's Party | Schweizerische Volkspartei or SVP | Union Démocratique du Centre or UDC | Unione Democratica del Centro or UDC | Uniun Democratica dal Center or UDC
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| | | | |
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| EVP/PEV | Evangelical People's Party | Evangelische Volkspartei der Schweiz or EVP | Parti Evangelique Suisse or PEV | Partito Evangelico Svizzero or PEV |
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| FPS | Freedom Party | Freiheits-Partei der Schweiz or FPS | | |
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| Greens | Green Party | Grüne Partei der Schweiz or Grüne | Parti Ecologiste Suisse or Les Verts | Partito Ecologista Svizzero or I Verdi | Partida Ecologica Svizra or La Verda
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| LPS/PLS | Liberal Party | Liberale Partei der Schweiz or LPS | Parti liberal suisse or PLS | Partito Liberale Svizzero or PLS |
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| SD/DS | Swiss Democratic Party | Schweizer Demokraten or SD | Démocrates Suisses or DS | Democratici Svizzeri or DS |
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| Lega | Ticino League | n/a | n/a | Lega dei Ticinesi | n/a
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| EDU/UDF | Union of Federal Democrats | Eidgenössisch-Demokratische Union or EDU | Union Démocratique Fédérale or UDF | Unione Democratica Federale or UDF |
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| PdA/PST | Workers' Party | Partei der Arbeit der Schweiz or PdAdS | Parti suisse du travail or PST | Partito Svizzero del Lavoro or PSdL |
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¹ also rendered as: Radical Free Democratic Party or Liberal Democratic Party
External links
- See also : International relations of Switzerland
Referenced By
Cancelliere della Confederazione | Chancelier de la Confédération | Chancellor of Switzerland | Confederazione Svizzera | Confederaziun Svizra | Confoederatio Helvetica | Confédération Suisse | Federal Chancellor of Switzerland | Federal Department of Foreign Affairs | Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (Switzerland) | Federal councillors of Switzerland | Foreign relations of Switzerland | ISO 3166-1:CH | International relations of Switzerland | List of Federal Chancellors of Switzerland | List of Switzerland-related topics | List of Switzerland related topics | List of members of the Swiss Federal Council | List of politics by country articles | Member of the Swiss Federal Council | Members of the Swiss Federal Council | October 2003 | Political Department (Switzerland) | Politics of (country) | Schweiz | Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft | Suisse | Svizzera | Swiss Confederation | Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs | Swiss elections, 2003 | Switzerland | Switzerland/Transnational issues
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