Swiss Politics - Overview

18 Feb 2006

The Swiss Flag (Photo: Presence Switzerland)

Switzerland’s political structure which, although changing, remains significantly different from western norms. While it works through normal constitutional channels such as parties and parliaments, not to mention structured consultation procedures, it differs is in its decentralized federalism and, especially, its intensive direct democracy. This makes Swiss politics extremely people oriented.

Swiss Political Structure

The ultimate political framework for Switzerland is provided by its Constitution. The original draft, produced in 1848 and considerably remodelled in 1874, was replaced in 1999 after much discussion and consultation. This was done because the old version had become very long and cumbersome thanks to the many additions produced by direct democracy.

The Parliament represents the Confederation, elects and controls the government and has the ultimate say on legislation. The Parliament is a perfect bi-cameral structure, made up of the upper house, the Council of States, composed of 46 members, two from each full canton, and the lower house, the National Council, with a fixed complement of 200 allocated amongst the cantons in proportion to population. Bills are considered first in committee and then in plenary sittings. Where the two houses fail to agree on a text there are reconciliation exchanges until agreement is reached.

At the peak of the governmental system is the Federal Council, a seven strong college of departmental heads, elected by Parliament for four year terms in the light of the electoral strength of the parties. The Council is chaired by the ministers in rotation, thus giving the country an unusual form of annual Presidency.

The Swiss use of direct democracy is highly distinctive. It is the wide-spread process of allowing the people to decide policy and other matters directly through exercising their right to vote. As well as legislative decisions it can involve administrative decisions, financial allocations and treaties, or even whether to recall governments. Hence the Swiss have to vote several times every year at varying levels.

Ties between Switzerland and the United States

Switzerland and the United States have many interesting parallels in terms of politics, culture, the scientific field, and economics. For example, the Swiss constitution written in 1848 is modeled after the American constitution. This has led to similar policies in many fields, such as economics. The two countries are also very important business partners, with Switzerland being one of the top 10 business partners of the USA and the USA being arguably the most important partner for Switzerland. In fact, so strong are the ties that a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Switzerland and the USA looks as though it will be made a reality, the first such agreement between the USA and a European country.

Switzerland and the European Union

Switzerland’s longtime claim to neutrality has led it to develop a unique relationship with the emerging European Union. Although Switzerland is not a member of the EU, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), allowing it to enjoy a strong trade relationship with EU countries. Switzerland has also agreed on a series of Bilateral Agreements, working out a series of agreements on the topics of the free movement of people, air transport, land transport, agriculture, technical barriers to trade, public procurement, research, Schengen/Dublin, the fight against fraud, the taxation of savings, processed agricultural products, media, the environment, statistics, and pensions. These agreements have allowed Switzerland to profit from many of the benefits of EU membership, while maintaining its independence.

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