Half canton

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Half- cantons ( French demi-canton, Italian semicantone, Rhaeto-Romanic mez chantun ) is the no longer official, but still common name for those six Swiss cantons that emerged from a cantonal division and are therefore only represented with one seat on the Council of States (the others Cantons each have two seats) and only have half a class vote when calculating the number of classes . In the Old Confederation (until 1798) the term half-stand prevailed . Since the revision of the Federal Constitution in 1999, preference has been given to the term canton with a split vote in the upscale language .

These six cantons are:

In the new legends of the Swiss Federal Constitution of 1999, the term is no longer used. It lists the cantons concerned in Art. 142 Para. 4 and says that these "cantons" each have "half a professional vote". The new official method of counting, as can also be found in Art. 1, thus regards these cantons as "whole" (with the only difference being the divided professional vote), which means that Switzerland now consists of 26 (and no longer 23) cantons.

However, nothing has changed in the actual status of these cantons. Apart from the smaller representation in the Council of States and half the professional vote, each “half-canton” has always had the same internal autonomy as a “full canton”.

Unterwalden

Unterwalden is considered to have been divided into Obwalden and Nidwalden since the late Middle Ages. In 1309 King Henry VII confirmed the imperial freedom of Unterwald as a whole. In the 14th and 15th centuries, independent valley communities emerged in Obwalden and Nidwalden. In the federal alliances, however, Unterwalden continued to count as part of the forest site with only one vote.

Appenzell

In the course of the Reformation in 1597, the canton of Appenzell was divided into a Catholic Inner Rhodes and a Reformed Outer Rhodes ( land division ).

Basel

In the canton of Basel in 1833 a conflict between the politically dominant city and the patronized landscape led to the division ( Basler canton separation ).

Schwyz

In the 1830s, the canton of Schwyz was temporarily divided into two half-cantons, namely Inner and Outer Schwyz .

Glarus

The canton of Glarus had developed into a canton with a Catholic minority during the Reformation . Since 1623 both denominations held their own country parish , in addition to the general country parish. These denominational rural communities ("Protestant Glarus" and "Catholic Glarus") took on many of the public tasks (including appointing bailiffs for common domains ), but in contrast to Appenzell, they did not develop their own federal or half-class: Glarus was not divided into two half-cantons and maintained its unity as a federal state and canton.

  • Unofficial joint coat of arms of the cantons of Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft

  • Unofficial joint coat of arms of Obwalden and Nidwalden

  • Old coat of arms of Unterwalden

  • Coat of arms of the (historical) Appenzell and today's Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden

Web links

Wiktionary: Half canton  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ SR 101, Art. 142 Required majorities. In: Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation. Retrieved September 20, 2007 .
  2. ↑ SR 101 Art. 1 Swiss Confederation. In: Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation. Retrieved September 20, 2007 .
  3. ^ Emil Weber: Unterwalden - Origin in the late Middle Ages. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . Retrieved May 21, 2014
  4. ↑ Karin Marti-Weissenbach: Glarus (Canton) - Rule, Politics and Constitution from the High Middle Ages to the end of the 18th century - State formation, governance and administration in the Ancien Régime. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . Retrieved May 8, 2014