Switzerland » Politics

Politics of Switzerland takes place in a framework of a federal parliamentary democratic republic, whereby the Federal Council of Switzerland is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. 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. Switzerland is the closest state in the world to a direct democracy. For any change in the constitution, a referendum is mandatory; for any change in a law, a referendum can be requested. Through referenda, citizens may challenge any law voted by federal parliament and through initiatives introduce amendments to the federal constitution, making Switzerland a direct democracy. 

The Swiss Federal Council is a seven-member executive council ("cabinet") that heads the executive branch. Any Swiss citizen eligible to be a member of the National Council can be elected; 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, Samuel Schmid, Micheline Calmy-Rey, Pascal Couchepin, Christoph Blocher, Hans-Rudolf Merz and Moritz Leuenberger. 

The Swiss executive is one of the most stable governments worldwide. Since 1848, it has never been renewed entirely at the same time, providing a long-term continuity. From 1959 to 2003 the Federal Council was composed of a coalition of all major parties in the same ratio: 2 Free Democratic Party, 2 Social Democratic, 2 Christian Democratic, and 1 Swiss People's Party. Changes in the council occur, in practice, only if one of the members resigned; this member was then replaced by someone from the same party (and preferably also from 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.

Elections to the federal parliament of Switzerland, the Swiss Federal Assembly, will be held on October 21, 2007. For the 48th legislative term of the federal parliament (2007-2011), voters in 26 cantons will elect all 200 members of the National Council as well as 43 out of 46 members of the Council of State. The other three members of the Council of States for that term of service are elected at an earlier date.

In December 2007, the newly elected legislature will elect the Swiss federal government, the Swiss Federal Council, for a four-year-term.