Political system of Switzerland

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The political system in Switzerland is based on the democratic , republican and rule of law principle.

overview

Political system of Switzerland

The Swiss Confederation is neither a purely parliamentary nor a presidential democracy , but has developed a system of government largely of its own, called the directorate system. In addition to a national bicameral parliament and a uniquely designed Federal Council , which unites both the collective head of state and the federal government, it contains two main characteristics:

The reasons for this “cooperative” understanding of the state lie primarily in the formation, composition and development of the Swiss Confederation , the Swiss “nation”, which is often referred to as a nation of will: the country is neither ethnically nor linguistically, culturally or denominationally one unit, but sees itself as a community united by the free will of its citizens. Taking into account the tradition of the old Switzerland before 1848 independent as a heterogeneous alliance small republics, the forerunner of today's cantons, therefore as "objects" (see. " Council of States ", " able Weibel ") and "States" (see. "State Bern» , " Staatsschreiber ", " Staatskanzlei ", " Staatsrat ", " Staatssteuer ").

Swiss politics has its own terminology: Frequently used expressions with a specific Swiss meaning are, in addition to those already mentioned, the interpellation , the motion , the postulate , the subsidiarity and the voting .

In addition to the cantonal constitutions, it is based on the Swiss Federal Constitution , which established modern Switzerland in 1848 and has been continuously revised since then and completely renewed in 1874 and 1999.

State levels

Switzerland has three levels of government: municipality - canton - federal government. Present in some cantons, districts , however, are not considered state level, because they are part of the cantonal administration and therefore have no political autonomy.

The Confederation comprises all of Switzerland's cantons and is the highest political level in Switzerland. The competence-competence lies with him .

legislative branch

Federal level

The parliament ( federal assembly ) consists of two chambers:

  • the National Council as representative of the people (200 members). Each canton has national councils based on its share of the population, but at least one (as in Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Glarus, Nidwalden, Obwalden and Uri). The National Council is elected by proportional representation in the cantons with more than one seat . The national councils of the single constituencies are elected by majority vote. The President of the National Council is the highest representative of the whole Swiss nation formally the highest person in the state - and for this reason is not the President who merely the entire Federal Council as head of state represents.
  • the Council of States as «cantonal representation» (46 members; 2 per canton with the exception of 6 cantons, which have only 1 member and are historically called half-cantons ). The Council of States are elected by a major vote in the cantons (except in the cantons of Jura and Neuchâtel). The term "cantonal representation" is misleading, however, as the Council of States do not have to represent their canton (cantonal government, cantonal parliament) either legally or actually ( prohibition of instructions ). This in contrast to z. B. to the German Federal Council .

The National Council and the Council of States usually meet separately. All legislative proposals (constitutional amendments, federal laws, federal resolutions, approval of international treaties) are dealt with in both chambers and must be approved by both chambers. In the so-called difference adjustment procedure, at most different resolutions of the chambers are led to a consensus. The United Federal Assembly is an exception to the separate deliberations of the two chambers. For the election of the seven members of the Federal Council (i.e. the executive branch ), the Federal President and the Federal Chancellor , the Federal Judge and, in the event of war, the General, the National Council and the Council of States unite to form an electoral body. Another function of the United Federal Assembly is pardon (issuance of a penalty imposed on an individual by federal authorities in accordance with federal law).

The National Councils and Councils of States are not bound by instructions from cantons, parties or other bodies when exercising their mandate (so-called instruction ban). In the political reality, however, numerous parliamentarians are dependent on interests and interest groups, etc.

The Swiss parliament is a so-called militia parliament , i.e. the national councils and councils of states do not exercise their mandate full-time. They do not receive any wages from the state , but instead receive attendance fees and allowance for expenses.

The Swiss parliament works mainly in commissions .

Cantonal level

The parliaments in the cantons are mostly called Cantonal Council or Grand Council , in the cantons of Basel-Landschaft , Glarus, Nidwalden and Uri District Administrator and in the canton of Jura Parliament . The number of members varies between 49 and 180.

These are elected directly by the people, usually for four years, in the cantons of Friborg, Vaud and Geneva for five years. With the exception of Graubünden and the two Appenzell (here again with the reverse exception of the Herisau constituency), where majority voting applies, proportional representation is used everywhere today . The three-year term of office previously common in large parts of Switzerland was last extended to four years in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden in 1995 and in the canton of Graubünden in 2003/2006; the latter canton even had a parliamentary term of office of just two years until the end of the 20th century.

In the cantons of Bern, Uri, Solothurn, Schaffhausen and Ticino, the cantonal parliament can be dismissed prematurely by means of a popular initiative that has to be submitted to the people for a vote. In view of the fact that the term of office is not too long at four years, this right is of secondary importance.

In the cantons of Glarus and Appenzell Innerrhoden, the highest legislative body is the Landsgemeinde , which meets once a year.

executive

Federal level

The Federal Council is the Swiss federal government. It consists of seven members with equal rights (see also the principle of collegiality ) who head the individual departments (ministries) of the federal administration . The Federal Council is elected by Parliament. The order of the individual Federal Councilors is as follows: The Federal President is at the top of the ranking, followed by the Vice-President. The Federal Councilors then follow in the order of their age for re-election in accordance with the principle of anciency .

Members of the Federal Council (2020)
Federal Council Canton Political party
Karin Keller-Sutter Canton of St. GallenCanton of St. Gallen St. Gallen FDP
Viola Amherd Canton of ValaisCanton of Valais Valais CVP
Ueli Maurer Canton ZurichCanton Zurich Zurich SVP
Simonetta Sommaruga (Federal President 2020) Canton BernCanton Bern Bern SP
Alain Berset Canton of FriborgCanton of Friborg Freiburg SP
Guy Parmelin (Vice-President of the Federal Council 2020) Canton of VaudCanton of Vaud Vaud SVP
Ignazio Cassis Canton of TicinoCanton of Ticino Ticino FDP

The Federal President is elected annually from the Federal Council and presides as primus inter pares the Federal Government in addition to his duties as head of department, but does not exercise the duties of a head of state .

Cantonal level

In most of the German-speaking cantons , the member state executive is called the government council , in the wholly or mostly French cantons and in the Italian canton of Ticino the council of state (French: Conseil d'État, Italian: Consiglio di Stato ), in the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden ethics commission and in the cantons of St. Gallen, Graubünden and Jura government (French: Gouvernement, Italian: Governo, Romansh: Regenza ). The number of members is five or seven, depending on the canton. In recent years, for reasons of economy and efficiency, there has been a trend towards reducing the size of the cantonal government from seven to five members.

As at the federal level, the principle of collegiality applies . There is therefore no cantonal head of government, but usually only a so-called Primus inter Pares, who chairs the meetings of the government for one year. This bears a different name depending on the canton, most often (government) president, then also Landammann , Governing Landammann (Appenzell Innerrhoden) or Schultheiss (Canton Lucerne; until 2007). To this end, a member of the government is vice- president for one year and thus designated district president or mayor for the next year. The new cantonal constitutions of Vaud (2003) and Basel-Stadt (2005) take a different path, which equate the term of office of the district president with that of the government council, i.e. extend the previous one-year term of office to five or four years.

The members are elected directly by the people everywhere, today usually for a term of four years, in the cantons of Friborg and Vaud five years, in the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden only one year. With the exception of the canton of Ticino (and until 2013 also of Zug), where proportional representation applies, majority voting is used everywhere .

In the cantons of Bern, Uri, Solothurn, Schaffhausen, Thurgau and Ticino, the cantonal government can be dismissed prematurely by means of a popular initiative that must be submitted to the people. In view of the fact that the authority's term of office of four years is not excessive, this right is of course of little importance.

Judiciary

According to Art. 30 Para. 1 of the Federal Constitution (BV) every person whose case has to be judged in a judicial process has the right to a competent, independent and impartial court created by law.

Federal level

The judiciary at federal level consists of the Federal Supreme Court with its headquarters in Lausanne and Lucerne (two social law departments), the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona (since April 2004) and the Federal Administrative Court (since January 2007) and the Federal Patent Court (since January 2012) in St. Gallen . The election of the judges is made by the United Federal Assembly .

  • The Federal Supreme Court (BGer) in Lausanne consists of 38 full-time as well as 15 + 1 ordinary and 15 extraordinary part-time federal judges. It monitors the constitutionality of federal decisions in the area of ​​civil and criminal law as well as cantonal decisions in other areas of law. It also acts as the highest authority in court decisions. The two social law departments of the Federal Supreme Court (until December 31, 2006, Federal Insurance Court ) in Lucerne have final jurisdiction in the area of ​​social insurance (including AHV , IV , BVG, AVIG, UVG ​​and EO). The official collection of the decisions of the Swiss Federal Court (BGE) is the guideline for all court decisions in Switzerland.
  • The Federal Criminal Court (BStGer) in Bellinzona started operations on April 1, 2004. It comprises 15 to 35 judge posts and judges first instance criminal cases that are assigned to federal jurisdiction (e.g. explosive attacks, serious cases of organized crime). Appeals against his decisions are available to the BGer.
  • The Federal Administrative Court (BVGer) started its work on January 1, 2007 in temporary workrooms in Bern and Zollikofen and in 2012 moved to its permanent seat in St. Gallen .
  • The Federal Patent Court (BPGer) started its work in St. Gallen on January 1, 2012 .

The activities of the military courts and the military justice system are also based on federal law .

Switzerland has no constitutional jurisdiction at the federal level , such as the German Federal Constitutional Court , for example . The federal laws are binding for the federal court, it is not possible for it to invoke incompatibility with constitutional provisions and thereby, for example, to have federal laws declared invalid. On the other hand, it may judge cantonal laws for their constitutionality and, if necessary, declare them invalid.

Cantonal level

The judiciary at the cantonal level comprises all the bodies upstream of the federal courts.

  • The justice of the peace or mediators , who are often located at the local level, act as arbitration bodies .
  • The district courts act as the actual first instance , and depending on the canton also cantonal court (in certain smaller cantons with only one single court of first instance), district court, regional court, regional court or civil court or criminal court .
  • In many cantons the second instance is called the higher court , in other cantonal courts (this term can therefore refer to a court of first or second instance depending on the canton), in the canton of Basel-Stadt appellate court, in canton Ticino appellate court (civil law disputes) or appellate court ( criminal disputes) and in the canton of Geneva Cour de justice .
  • Each canton has coercive measures dishes , the certain for the arrangement of the investigation and security detention and for the order or approval of further coercive measures are responsible. They can either be attached to the respective courts of first and second instance or be independent (according to the detention court in the cantons of Thurgau, Friborg or Solothurn).
  • In larger cantons, administrative jurisdiction is exercised by an independently organized administrative court , in other cantons by the administrative law department of the court of second instance. Some cantons also have special administrative courts , such as a building course court or a tax appeals court .
  • In addition, there are often specialized or special dishes. Juvenile courts are common. In certain cantons there is a criminal court or criminal court that takes the place of the district or higher court in the case of serious offenses. Other special courts, which also only occur in some cantons and are usually organizationally affiliated to other courts, are the labor court , the tenancy court , the social insurance court , the commercial court , the commercial criminal court or the agricultural court . A few cantons then still had a jury until 2010 , whose trials were based on the principle of immediacy . Since the Federal Criminal Procedure Code, which came into force in 2011, no longer provides for processes based on the principle of immediacy, the last jury courts were abolished on this date. Only the canton of Ticino still knows juries by name, but they have full access to the files.
  • A few cantons (Zurich, St. Gallen) had a cantonal court of third instance until 2010, namely the Court of Cassation , which judged annulment complaints and, if approved, referred the case back to the previous instance. With the federal procedural rules ( ZPO and StPO ) that came into force in 2011 , this third cantonal instance no longer exists.
  • The cantons of Basel-Stadt, Geneva and Jura have an independent constitutional court .

federalism

The Swiss federal state consists of 26 cantons , six of which (Obwalden, Nidwalden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft), which for historical reasons are referred to as half-cantons and therefore only receive one of 46 Council of States seats each. The cantons have a certain political autonomy and can regulate some things on their own. In general, the federal government only has the powers listed individually in the federal constitution; all others remain with the cantons. They also regulate their affairs among themselves, intercantonally, etc. a. also in intercantonal conferences . For years there has been a shift in competencies from the cantons to the federal government.

The federalism in Switzerland has, on the cantonal and federal level, two elements:

  • Involvement of the cantons in political decision-making.
  • Autonomy of the cantons: the Confederation may only regulate what is expressly mentioned in the constitution as its competence, everything else is regulated by the cantons on their own authority.

Article 3 of the Federal Constitution reads:

The cantons are sovereign insofar as their sovereignty is not restricted by the federal constitution; they exercise all rights that are not vested in the federal government.

Art. 42, para. 2 of the Federal Constitution:

He (the federal government) takes on the tasks that require uniform regulation.

Art. 44, Para. 1 of the Federal Constitution:

The Confederation and the cantons support each other in the performance of their tasks and work together.

Popular rights

Federal level

Switzerland has the following co-determination rights at the federal level:

  • Right to vote : From the age of 18, all Swiss citizens, including those who live abroad, have the right to vote and stand as a candidate (if they are not incapacitated due to illness or mental weakness).
  • Right to vote : The people who are allowed to vote also have the right to vote, which means that they can vote on communal , cantonal or national proposals.
  • Right of initiative : 100,000 citizens can use a popular initiative to force a referendum on a constitutional amendment. With the required number of signatures, the parliament is commissioned to draft a legal text, or a drafted text can be brought to a referendum, but this must be done within 18 months.
  • Referendum right : The people can overturn or confirm parliamentary decisions retrospectively, namely in a referendum after a mandatory (e.g. for constitutional changes) or optional referendum (here at least 50,000 signatures are required in 100 days).
  • Right of petition : All persons capable of judgment (including those not entitled to vote) may submit written requests, suggestions and complaints to the authorities. They must take note of the petitions. In practice, every petition is dealt with and answered, but this is not mandatory.

Cantonal level

The structure of the people's rights in the cantons basically corresponds to that in the Confederation, although historically the Confederation has taken over the regulation of the cantons.

Even today, however, the cantonal people's rights go beyond those at the federal level:

  • Without exception, they are also familiar with the constitutional initiative and the legislative initiative, i.e. they grant the population the right to make proposals to enact or amend laws. Thanks to the separate right of the legislative initiative, every request for detailed changes does not have to be formulated as a formal constitutional initiative, as in the federal government, which prevents the canton's constitutions from being overloaded with subordinate provisions. The cantonal constitutions provide for a lower number of signatures for a legislative initiative than for constitutional initiatives.
  • In addition to the legal referendum, cantonal law throughout Switzerland also recognizes the financial referendum, which means that a certain one-off or recurring expenditure, the amount of which is specified in the canton's constitutions, can be submitted to a referendum (optional financial referendum) or even must (mandatory financial referendum ). There are cantons that know both variants of the financial referendum; in these cases, the threshold for the mandatory financial referendum is higher than that for the optional one.
  • In addition, according to the provisions of the canton's constitutions, very high one-off or recurring expenses must be submitted to a referendum.
  • The Canton of Zurich has known the individual initiative since 1869 : The initiative of an individual regarding amendments to the constitution or a law is treated as a parliamentary or popular initiative if it is supported by at least 60 (out of a total of 180) members of the Cantonal Council. The two regional parish cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden and Glarus know the right of individual initiatives, but where such initiatives are mandatory to be submitted to the regional parish.
  • Individual cantons such as Friborg, Schaffhausen and Solothurn are familiar with the popular law of the Volksmotion , which was only created at the end of the 20th century, in other words: a certain number of people can submit a motion to the cantonal parliament, which is to be treated by it as a parliamentary motion.
  • Only in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden does the popular discussion instrument exist , according to which every individual citizen is expressly allowed to express his position on a bill and even to represent his position personally in front of the cantonal council.
  • The canton of Bern has known the popular proposal (amendment proposal) since 1995, which can be introduced as a (counter) variant with 10,000 signatures in bills and fundamental resolutions of the Grand Council. Should this come about, both templates will be submitted to the voters for a vote. When voting, it is possible to either accept or reject both, in which case the key question decides ( Constitution of the Canton of Bern (PDF; 226 kB) - Art. 63 Paragraph 3; Law on Political Rights - Art. 59a ff). The Canton of Zurich has also had such a referendum with counter-proposal since 2006 ( Constitution of the Canton of Zurich (PDF; 362 kB) - Art. 35).

In contrast to the federal government, some cantons still have the obligatory referendum, according to which every cantonal law must be submitted to a referendum without exception. Today, however, most of the cantons have switched to the optional referendum , which means that a referendum is only called for laws if this is requested by a certain number of parliamentarians or a certain number of voters. Individual cantons such as Basel-Landschaft or Schaffhausen have a middle way, in that laws that have been approved in the cantonal parliament by a majority of at least four fifths of the council members are subject to an optional referendum, while the others are subject to an obligatory referendum. Changes to the cantonal constitutions, however, are subject to a mandatory referendum in all cantons. Zurich also has a unique solution in that, although most laws are subject to the optional referendum, tax laws are subject to mandatory referendum.

Voting and election participation

In Switzerland, around 45 percent of those entitled to vote take part in votes and elections on average over many years, which in itself would be low in an international comparison. However, one would have to compare the same with the same - once every four or five years elections and four times a year, note binding, votes on, at the same time, several topics. And this is exactly where superficial comparisons "lag", in which political participation in Switzerland is massively underestimated. 75 percent of those eligible to vote take part in at least one of seven ballots . Political studies also show that around 25 percent of those eligible to vote take part in all elections and votes, 20 percent in none, and 55 percent irregularly.

Community level

In accordance with the cantonal and federal level, citizens also exercise their rights at the municipal level .

Direct democracy

The right of the people to have a say is well developed in Switzerland; one has to distinguish between two forms of direct democracy : assembly democracy and voting democracy . Assembly democracy is widespread in the country, especially in the communities with mostly less than 5000 inhabitants ( community assembly ), and it exists in the form of the rural community in individual small cantons. Voting democracy exists at federal as well as canton and communal level.

When the constitution is changed , the people have the last word in any case, laws are subject to mandatory or optional referendum , depending on their scope .

New articles can be proposed by the people via the instrument of the initiative and - if the article is adopted in the subsequent referendum - introduced into the constitution and federal laws.

In contrast to other countries, the seven ministers (Federal Councilors) and the Federal President are not elected by the people, but by the Federal Parliament (United Federal Assembly). The Federal President holds office for one year. At the cantonal level, the members of the government are determined in popular elections.

There is no actual legislative initiative at federal level, but it is guaranteed in most cantons.

Emergence

The assembly democracy in Switzerland has its roots in the corporations of the Middle Ages , the voting democracy in the 19th century . The latter was established in most of the cantons in the 1860s to 1880s, and it also gained acceptance at the federal level from 1874. The most lasting exception was the canton of Friborg , where a representative democratic form of government lasted almost fifty years longer than in the other cantons and was only replaced by direct democratic institutions in 1918. This form suffered a setback there again in the 1930s, when the cantonal parliament decided on a constitutional reform in the corporate spirit, the introduction of which was ultimately averted by the federal court.

Political parties

Political life in Switzerland is largely determined by the political parties. They are organized on a decentralized basis, as associations at the municipality or canton level, which join together to form national parties.

See also

Switzerland

literature

Web links

University research centers for further research and development of federalism and direct democracy:

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ueli Leuthold, Jilline Bornand: Swiss government customer. Basics and repetition questions with answers , Compendio Bildungsmedien AG, 6th edition 2012, p. 24 .
  2. ^ Alois Riklin: Handbook of the political system of Switzerland . tape 1 . Paul Haupt, Bern and Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-258-03197-5 , p. 232 .
  3. ↑ SR 171.10, Art. 9 Income and allowances. In: Swiss Confederation. Retrieved September 13, 2012 .
  4. ^ Federal Council elections . The federal authorities of the Swiss Confederation ( admin.ch ). Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  5. ↑ SR 173.71 Federal Act on the Federal Criminal Court
  6. ↑ Erich Aschwanden: Political participation is massively underestimated: Center for Democracy Aarau examines voting participation over a longer period of time , Neue Zürcher Zeitung of July 23, 2013, p. 8
  7. ^ Fritz Schaffer: Outline of Swiss History. Huber, Frauenfeld 1972.