Politics of Switzerland

of the voters whether to accept or reject the law.[1]

The politics of Switzerland take place in the framework

of a multi-party federal directorial democratic republic,
whereby the Federal Council of Switzerland is the collective head of government and head of state. Executive
power is exercised by the government and the federal
administration and is not concentrated in any one person. Federal legislative power is vested in both the
government and the two chambers of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland. The judiciary is independent of the
executive and the legislature.

Also, any citizen may seek a decision on an amendment

they want to make to the constitution. For such a
federal popular initiative to be organised, the signatures
of 100,000 voters must be collected within 18 months.[2]
Such a federal popular initiative is formulated as a precise
new text (general proposal initiatives have been canceled
in 2009[3] ) whose wording can no longer be changed by
parliament and the government. After a successful signature gathering, the federal council may create a counterproposal to the proposed amendment and put it to vote
on the same day as the original proposal. Such counterproposals are usually a compromise between the status
quo and the wording of the initiative. Voters will decide
in a national vote whether to accept the initiative amendment, the counter proposal put forward by the government if any, or both. If both are accepted, one has to
additionally signal a preference. Initiatives (that are of
constitutional level) have to be accepted by a double majority of both the popular votes and a majority of the cantons, while counter-proposals may be of legislative level
and hence require only simple majority.

Switzerland is the closest state in the world to a direct

democracy. For any change in the constitution, a
referendum is mandatory (mandatory referendum); for
any change in a law, a referendum can be requested
(optional referendum). Through referenda, citizens
may challenge any law voted by federal parliament and
through federal popular initiative introduce amendments
to the federal constitution.
The same system is used for the three administrative levels of municipality, canton and country. If the community is small enough like in small villages, the parliament
representing the people does not exist. Also the ordinary
law does then not exist, only the constitution of the village. The term council is used ambiguously, sometimes
it refers to legislation, i.e. parliament, sometimes to the
execution, i.e. government.

2 Executive branch
Main articles: Swiss Federal Council and Federal
administration of Switzerland
See also: List of members of the Swiss Federal Council
and List of Presidents of the Swiss Confederation

Direct representation

See also: Voting in Switzerland

Amendments to the Federal Constitution of Switzerland,

the joining of international organizations, or changes to
federal laws that have no foundation in the constitution
but will remain in force for more than one year must
be approved by the majority of both the people and the
cantons, a double majority.

The Swiss Federal Council is a seven-member executive council that heads the federal administration, operating as a combination cabinet and collective presidency. Any Swiss citizen eligible to be a member of
the National Council can be elected;[4] candidates do not
have to register for the election, or to actually be members of the National Council. The Federal Council is
elected by the Federal Assembly for a four-year term.
Present members are: Doris Leuthard (CVP/PDC),
Guy Parmelin (SVP/UDC), Ueli Maurer (SVP/UDC),
Didier Burkhalter (FDP/PRD), Simonetta Sommaruga
(SP/PS), Johann Schneider-Ammann (FDP/PRD) and
Alain Berset (SP/PS).

Any citizen may challenge a law that has been passed by

parliament. If that person is able to gather 50,000 signatures against the law within 100 days, a national vote has
to be scheduled where voters decide by a simple majority

The largely ceremonial President and Vice President of

the Confederation are elected by the Federal Assembly from among the members of the Federal Council
for one-year terms that run concurrently. The President

Switzerland features a system of government not seen in

any other nation: direct representation, sometimes called
half-direct democracy (this may be arguable, because
theoretically, the Sovereign of Switzerland is actually its
entire electorate). Referenda on the most important laws
have been used since the 1848 constitution.

6 POLITICAL CONDITIONS

has almost no powers over and above his or her six col- Assembly, made up of:
leagues, but undertakes representative functions normally
the Council of States (46 seats - members serve fourperformed by a president or prime minister in singleyear terms) and
executive systems. The current (As of 2016) President
and Vice President are Johann Schneider-Ammann and
the National Council (200 seats - members serve
Doris Leuthard, respectively.
four-year terms and are elected by popular vote on
The Swiss executive is one of the most stable governa basis of proportional representation)
ments worldwide. Since 1848, it has never been renewed
entirely at the same time, providing a long-term continu- The previous elections (before those held in 2011, below)
ity. From 1959 to 2003 the Federal Council was com- to the National Council were held in 2007, see 2007 elecposed of a coalition of all major parties in the same ratio: tions for more details. The ve parties that hold seats in
2 each from the Free Democratic Party, Social Demo- the Federal Council dominate both chambers of the Ascratic Party and Christian Democratic Peoples Party and sembly; they currently hold a supermajority of 167 seats
1 from the Swiss Peoples Party. Changes in the coun- in the National Council, and 41 in the Council of States.
cil occur typically only if one of the members resigns
Most hearings in the parliament are open to everyone, in(merely four incumbent members were voted out of the
cluding foreigners.
[5]
oce in over 150 years); this member is almost always
replaced by someone from the same party (and often also
from the same linguistic group).
The Swiss government has been a coalition of the four
major political parties since 1959, each party having a
number of seats that roughly reects its share of electorate
and representation in the federal parliament. The classic
distribution of 2 CVP/PDC, 2 SPS/PSS, 2 FDP/PRD and
1 SVP/UDC as it stood from 1959 to 2003 was known as
the "magic formula".[5]
This magic formula has been repeatedly criticised: in
the 1960s, for excluding leftist opposition parties; in the
1980s, for excluding the emerging Green party; and particularly after the 1999 election, by the Peoples Party,
which had by then grown from being the fourth largest
party on the National Council to being the largest. In the
elections of 2003, the Peoples Party received (eective
January 1, 2004) a second seat in the Federal Council,
reducing the share of the Christian Democratic Party to
one seat.

4 Political parties and elections

For other political parties, see List of political parties

in Switzerland. An overview on elections and election
results is included in Elections in Switzerland.
Switzerland has a rich party landscape. The ve parties
represented in the Federal Council are generally called
the government parties: Free Democratic Party, Social
Democratic Party, Christian Democratic Party, Swiss
Peoples Party, and Conservative Democratic Party of
Switzerland.
As of 2011 only the ve government parties were represented in the Council of States. In the National Council the party landscape is more diverse with six nongovernment parties having at least one seat.
Main article: Swiss federal election, 2011

Legislative branch
5 Judicial branch
Switzerland has a Federal Supreme Court, with judges
elected for six-year terms by the Federal Assembly. The
function of the Federal Supreme Court is to hear appeals
of cantonal courts or the administrative rulings of the federal administration.

6 Political conditions
Switzerland has a stable government. Most voters support
the government in its philosophy of armed neutrality unThe Federal Palace, in Bern, hosts the Federal Assembly and the derlying its foreign and defense policies. Domestic policy
poses some major problems, to the point that many obFederal Council.
servers deem that the system is in crisis[7] but the changSwitzerland has a bicameral parliament called the Federal ing international environment has generated a signicant

3
by Reporters Without Borders (with a score 0.5 points,
zero being the perfect score).

7 Foreign relations
Main article: Foreign relations of Switzerland

Political positions of the Swiss political parties based on their referendum voting recommendations, 1985-90 and 2010-14

Switzerland has avoided alliances that might entail military, political, or direct economic action. In June
2001, Swiss voters approved new legislation providing
for the deployment of armed Swiss troops for international peacekeeping missions under United Nations or
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
auspices as well as international cooperation in military
training. The Swiss have broadened the scope of activities in which they feel able to participate without compromising their neutrality.

Switzerland maintains diplomatic relations with almost

all countries and historically has served as a neutral intermediary and host to major international treaty conferences. The country has no major disputes in its bilateral
reexamination of Swiss policy in key areas such as derelations.
fense, neutrality, and immigration. Quadrennial national
elections typically produce only marginal changes in party
representation.

8 Energy politics

In recent years, Switzerland has seen a gradual shift in

the party landscape. The right-wing Swiss Peoples 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, rising to 28.9%
in 2007, thus overtaking its three coalition partners. This
shift in voting shares put a strain on the "magic formula",
the power-broking agreement of the four coalition parties. From 1959 until 2004, the seven-seat cabinet had
comprised 2 Free Democrats, 2 Christian Democrats,
2 Social Democrats, and 1 Swiss Peoples Party, but in
2004, the Swiss Peoples Party took one seat from the
Christian Democrats. In 2008 the Conservative Democratic Party split from the SVP, taking both of their Federal Council seats with them. However, the SVP eventually retook both seats, in 2009 and 2015 respectively.[8] The emergency switch-o button of the Beznau Nuclear Power
The Swiss Federal Constitution limits federal inuence
in the formulation of domestic policy and emphasizes
the roles of private enterprise and cantonal government. However, in more recent times the powers of the
Confederation have increased with regard to education,
agriculture, health, energy, the environment, organized
crime, and narcotics.

Plant. In 2011, the federal authorities decided to gradually phase

out nuclear power in Switzerland.

See also: Energy in Switzerland and Nuclear power in

Switzerland

The energy generated in Switzerland comprises 55.2%

hydroelectricity, 39.9% from nuclear power, about 4%
The Index of perception of corruption puts Switzerland from conventional sources and about 1% other.
among the least corrupt nations. In the 2005 survey, On May 18, 2003, two referenda regarding the future
Switzerland ranks 7th (out of 158 surveyed), with 9.1 out of nuclear power in Switzerland were held. The referof 10 possible points, representing an improvement of 0.4 endum Electricity Without Nuclear asked for a decision
points over the past four years.
on a nuclear power phase-out and Moratorium Plus asked
Together with seven other European nations, Switzerland about an extension of an existing law forbidding the buildleads the 2005 index on Freedom of the Press published ing of new nuclear power plants. Both were turned down:

12

Moratorium Plus by a margin of 41.6% for and 58.4%

opposed, and Electricity Without Nuclear by a margin
of 33.7% for and 66.3% opposed. The former ten-year
moratorium on the construction of new nuclear power
plants was the result of a federal popular initiative voted
on in 1990 which had passed with 54.5% Yes vs. 45.5%
No votes (see Nuclear power in Switzerland for details).
In May 2011, due to the Fukushima accident in Japan, the
Swiss government decided to abandon plans to build new
nuclear reactors. The countrys ve existing reactors will
be allowed to continue operating, but will not be replaced
at the end of their life span. The last will go oine in
2034.[9]

See also
International relations of Switzerland
Modern history of Switzerland
Demographics of Switzerland
Direct democracy
Federal popular initiative
Referendum, List of Swiss federal referendums
Concordance system
Constitutional conventions of Switzerland

10

Notes and references

[1] Pierre Cormon, Swiss Politics for Complete Beginners],

Editions Slatkine, 2014, ISBN 978-2-8321-0607-5
[2] Cormon 2014, p. 23.
[3] http://www.admin.ch/ch/f/pore/va/20090927/det544.
html

EXTERNAL LINKS

11 Bibliography
Pierre Cormon, Swiss Politics for Complete Beginners, Editions Slatkine, 2014, ISBN 978-2-83210607-5
Hirschbhl, Tina (2011a), The Swiss Government
Report 1, Federal Department of Foreign Aairs
FDFA, Presence Switzerland via YouTube
Hirschbhl, Tina (2011b), The Swiss Government
Report 2, Federal Department of Foreign Aairs
FDFA, Presence Switzerland via YouTube
Hirschbhl, Tina (2011c), How Direct Democracy
Works In Switzerland - Report 3, Federal Department of Foreign Aairs FDFA, Presence Switzerland via YouTube
Hirschbhl, Tina (2011d), How People in Switzerland Vote - Report 4, Federal Department of Foreign
Aairs FDFA, Presence Switzerland via YouTube
Hirschbhl, Tina (2011e), Switzerland & the EU:
The Bilateral Agreements - Report 5, Federal Department of Foreign Aairs FDFA, Presence Switzerland via YouTube
Wolf Linder, Yannis Papadopoulos, Hanspeter
Kriesi, Peter Knoepfel, Ulrich Klti, Pascal Sciarini:
Handbook of Swiss Politics, Neue Zrcher
Zeitung Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-303823-136-3.
Handbuch der Schweizer Politik / Manuel de la
politique suisse, Verlag Neue Zrcher Zeitung,
2007, ISBN 978-3-03823-136-3.
Vincent Golay and Mix et Remix, Swiss political institutions, ditions loisirs et pdagogie, 2008. ISBN
978-2-606-01295-3.

12 External links
Swiss government site (in English)

[4] Swiss Federal Constitution, art. 175 al. 3

Swiss parliament site (in English)

[5] Cormon 2014, p. 32.

Chief of State and Cabinet Members

[6] These numbers represent ctional voters. See National

Council for more details.

Political rights at the federal level

[7] Cormon 2014, p. 55-61.

[8] Mombelli, Armando (December 10, 2015). Peoples
Party Gains Second Seat in Cabinet. Swissinfo. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
[9] Kanter, James (2011-05-25). Switzerland Decides on
Nuclear Phase-Out. The New York Times.

The political landscape of the present parliament depicted in a graph

Swiss political system

13

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