Editing Politics of Switzerland (section)

== Federal level ==
Federalism refers to a vertical separation of powers. The aim is to avoid the concentration of power in a forum, which allows a moderation of state power and the easing of the duties of the federal state.

In Switzerland, it is above all a matter of designating the independence of the cantons vis-à-vis the Confederation.

===Executive branch===
{{Main|Federal Council (Switzerland)|Federal administration of Switzerland}}

{{See also|List of members of the Swiss Federal Council|List of presidents of the Swiss Confederation}}
[[File:Karin Keller-Sutter (2024, cropped).jpg|left|thumb|224x224px|[[Karin Keller-Sutter]]
has served as [[President of the Swiss Confederation]] since 1 January 2025.]]
The [[Federal Council (Switzerland)|Swiss Federal Council]] is a seven-member executive council that heads the [[Federal administration of Switzerland|federal administration]], operating as a combination [[Cabinet (government)|cabinet]] and [[President (government title)|collective presidency]]. Any Swiss citizen eligible to be a member of the [[National Council (Switzerland)|National Council]] can be elected;<ref>[[Swiss Federal Constitution]], art. 175 al. 3</ref> 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 (Switzerland)|Federal Assembly]] for a four-year term. Present members are:<!--sort by seniority--> [[Guy Parmelin]] (SVP/UDC), [[Ignazio Cassis]] (FDP/PLR), [[Karin Keller-Sutter]] (FDP/PLR), [[Albert Rösti]] (SVP/UDC), [[Élisabeth Baume-Schneider]] (SP/PS), [[Beat Jans]] (SP/PS), and [[Martin Pfister]] (DM/LC).

The largely ceremonial [[President of the Swiss Confederation|President]] and Vice President of the Confederation are elected by the Federal Assembly from among the members of the Federal Council for one-year terms that run concurrently. The President has almost no powers over and above his or her six colleagues, but undertakes representative functions generally performed by a president or prime minister in single-executive systems. The current President and Vice President are, as of 2025, [[Karin Keller-Sutter]] and [[Guy Parmelin]], respectively.

The Swiss executive is one of the most stable governments worldwide. Since 1848, it has never been renewed entirely simultaneously, 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: two each from the (now-defunct) [[Free Democratic Party of Switzerland|Free Democratic Party]], [[Social Democratic Party of Switzerland|Social Democratic Party]] and (now-defunct) [[Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland|Christian Democratic People's Party]] and one from the [[Swiss People's Party]]. Changes in the Federal Council typically only occur in the event that one of the members resigns (only four incumbent members have been voted out of the office in over 150 years);{{sfn|Cormon|2014|p=32}} this member is almost always replaced by someone from the same party (and often also from the same linguistic group).

The Federal Chancellor is the head of the [[Federal Chancellery of Switzerland]], which acts as the general staff of the Federal Council. The Chancellery is divided into three distinct sectors. The Chancellor, currently [[Viktor Rossi]], is the formal head of the Federal Chancellor Sector, comprising the planning and strategy section, the Internal Services section, the political rights section, the federal crisis management training unit of the Federal Administration and the Records and Process Management section.

Two sectors are headed by the [[Vice-Chancellor of Switzerland|Vice-Chancellors]]: the Federal Council sector headed by [[Jörg De Bernardi]] manages the agenda of the Federal Council's meeting. This sector comprises the Section for Federal Council Affairs, the Legal Section, the Official Publications Centre, and the Central Language Services. The Information and Communications Sector is led ''ad interim'' by Ursula Eggenberger, following Vice-Chancellor [[André Simonazzi]]'s death in May 2024; this role also has expanded to become the official spokesman for the Federal Council in 2000. This sector includes the e-Government Section, the Communication Support Section and the Political Forum of the Confederation.

The federal government has been a coalition of the four major political parties since 1959, each with a number of seats that roughly reflects its share of electorate and representation in the federal parliament. The classic distribution of 2 CVP/PDC, 2 SP/PS, 2 FDP/PRD and 1 SVP/UDC as it stood from 1959 to 2003 was known as the "[[Magic formula (Swiss politics)|magic formula]]".{{sfn|Cormon|2014|p=32}}

This "magic formula" has been repeatedly criticised: in the 1960s, for excluding leftist opposition parties; in the 1980s, for excluding the emerging Green Party; and particularly after the [[1999 Swiss federal election|1999 election]], by the Swiss People's Party, which had by then grown from being the fourth-largest party in the National Council to being the largest. In the [[2003 Swiss federal election|2003 federal election]], the Swiss People's Party received (effective 1 January 2004) a second seat in the Federal Council, reducing the share of the Christian Democratic Party to one seat.

===Legislative branch===
[[File:Bundeshaus aus Luft.jpg|thumb|The [[Federal Palace of Switzerland|Federal Palace]], in [[Bern]], hosts the [[Federal Assembly (Switzerland)|Federal Assembly]] and the [[Federal Council (Switzerland)|Federal Council]].]]
Switzerland has a [[Bicameralism|bicameral]] [[parliament]], the [[Federal Assembly (Switzerland)|Federal Assembly]], which is composed of:
* the [[Council of States (Switzerland)|Council of States]] (46 seats, 2 seats per canton, except for six cantons which only have 1), also known as the upper chamber
* the [[National Council (Switzerland)|National Council]] (200 seats, split between the cantons based on population), also known as the lower chamber
The Federal Assembly convenes to elect the members of the Federal Council.
The two chambers are equal (perfect bicameralism). This power-sharing system prevents monopolization of federal politics by more populated cantons to the detriment of smaller and rural cantons.

Members of both houses serve for 4 years and only serve as members of parliament part-time (so-called "Milizsystem" or [[Citizen legislature]]).<ref name="urlMiliz-Parlamentswissinfo.ch">{{cite web |url=http://www.swissinfo.ch/ger/die-legislative-ist-ein-miliz-parlament/162442 |title=Die Legislative ist ein Miliz-Parlament - SWI swissinfo.ch |date=9 December 2009 |access-date=2016-12-13}}</ref>

====Political parties and elections====
{{Main|List of political parties in Switzerland|Elections in Switzerland|2023 Swiss federal election}}

Switzerland has a rich party landscape. The four parties represented in the Federal Council are generally called the government parties: [[The Liberals (Switzerland)|The Liberals]] (FDP/PLR), the [[Social Democratic Party of Switzerland|Social Democratic Party]] (SP/PS), [[The Centre (political party)|The Centre]] (DM/LC) and the [[Swiss People's Party]] (SVP/UDC).

===Judicial branch===
Switzerland has a [[Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland|Federal Supreme Court]], with judges elected for six-year terms by the Federal Assembly. The function of the [[Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland|Federal Supreme Court]] is to hear appeals of cantonal courts or the administrative rulings of the federal administration.
Switzerland does not have a Constitutional Court, and the Supreme Court cannot comment on law put forward by the parliament. This role is assumed by the people, which acts as a guardian and can repeal any legislation or constitutional change.