Brief Review

Political Stability

Switzerland is a federal republic with a direct democracy. The people shape legislation and constitutional changes directly through initiatives and referendums. The constitution was written in 1848 and significantly revised in 1874 and again in 2000, when three-fifths of voters approved changes making it more coherent, incorporating 125 years’ worth of amendments.

The main political parties are the Swiss People's Party (SVP, populist right-wing); Social-democratic Party (SP, left-wing); Radical Democratic Party (FDP, right-wing); Christian Democratic Party (CVP, centre-right); Green Party Switzerland (left-wing environmentalist).

The executive branch of government is the Federal Council, composed of seven members, one of who becomes President each year, on a revolving basis. The Federal Council is assisted and advised on the running of its business by the Federal Chancellery. The Chancellor attends weekly cabinet meetings in a consultative capacity, and is sometimes referred to unofficially as "the 8th councillor."

The legislative branch of the Swiss government is a parliament composed of two parts, the National Council and the Council of States. Both chambers are directly elected, but whereas the number of seats per canton in the National Council is allocated according to the size of the population, each canton elects two representatives into the Council of States, and each half-canton elects one representative, regardless of the size of the population. Any law passed by both houses that modifies the constitution must be submitted to a referendum. Laws must also be submitted to a referendum if demanded by eight cantons or 50.000 citizens. Citizens may initiate changes to the constitution by gathering 100,000 signatures to petition for a referendum.

The Swiss enjoy a higher level of political freedom than many of its neighbours due to its direct democracy. Though most laws are still made by the parliament, citizens are entitled to put almost every law decided by their representatives to a general vote. And as legislators understand that their constituents have the ultimate power to decide on legislation, most decisions made by parliament are usually in keeping with the desires of the people.

Interestingly, Switzerland has the lowest voter turnout of any established democracy, at 40 percent. The percentage of women in high government positions is only around 14 percent. This is not as surprising as women were only given the right to vote or hold office in 1971.