Municipality (Switzerland)

Municipality in Switzerland

Political municipality (also resident municipality, municipality, local municipality, district, municipal municipality )
Farms
Bürgergemeinde (also civic community , local community, local citizen community, Tagwen , bourgeoisie, commune bourgeoise, patriziato, vischnanca burgaisa )

Unified Church

Parliamentary group

Mixed community

Parish

Corporation church

Municipal municipality (Canton Thurgau) (repealed)

Rhode

School community

Quarter parish

Civil parish (repealed)

In Switzerland there are different types of communities under public law.

Political community

The political communities have so-called general competence in local affairs. This means that all business not expressly reserved for the canton, the federal government or a special municipality by the constitution and law falls within the competence of the political municipality. In some cantons , the political communities are u. a. referred to as resident , local or municipal communities .

As of May 1, 2013, there were 2396 political communities (for comparison: 2551 communities as of January 1, 2011). This number is steadily decreasing due to parish mergers. As of January 1, 2017, there were still 2,255 municipalities in Switzerland.

“The community (French commune , ital. Comune ) is a public corporation which is endowed with sovereign power over [its] territory. In the […] state structure […], the political municipality is the unit closest to the citizen and the lowest level of the public administrative municipality. The term community can also refer to a gathering of its members ( gmeinden or gmein hold ) (community assemblies , rural community).
In order to satisfy the basic human needs for protection and mutual help, associations of people, which went beyond family and clan, formed from the end of the early Middle Ages, the pre-forms of the later communities. The community stood out from such neighborhoods and cooperatives in a long process characterized by increasing self-regulation and sanctioning competence until it became politically and legally self-responsible.
[...] The municipalities continue to enjoy great political attention and are experienced by their residents as a social frame of reference and a place where direct participation in shaping the living environment is possible. "

- Andreas Ladner : Historical Lexicon of Switzerland