Politics of Switzerland

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Political System of Switzerland Politisches System der Schweiz (German) Système politique de la Suisse (French) Sistema politico della Svizzera (Italian) Sistem politic da la Svizra (Romansh)
Coat of arms of Switzerland
Polity type	Semi-direct democratic federal republic
Constitution	Constitution of Switzerland
Legislative branch
Name	Federal Assembly
Type	Bicameral
Meeting place	Federal Palace, Bern
Upper house
Name	Council of States
Presiding officer	Andrea Caroni, President of the Council of States
Appointer	Popular vote
Lower house
Name	National Council
Presiding officer	Maja Riniker, President of the National Council
Appointer	Popular vote
Executive branch
Head of state
Title	President of the Confederation
Currently	Karin Keller-Sutter
Appointer	Federal Assembly
Cabinet
Name	Federal Council
Leader	President
Deputy leader	Vice President
Appointer	Federal Assembly
Headquarters	Federal Palace
Ministries	7
Judicial branch
Name	Judiciary of Switzerland
Federal Supreme Court
Seat	Federal Courthouse, Lausanne

This article is part of a series on the
Politics of Switzerland
Constitution Human rights
Federal Council Members (by seniority) Guy Parmelin (Vice President) Ignazio Cassis Karin Keller-Sutter (President) Albert Rösti Élisabeth Baume-Schneider Beat Jans Martin Pfister Federal Chancellor Viktor Rossi Federal administration
Federal Assembly Council of States (members) National Council (members) Political parties
Elections Voting Elections 1848 1851 1854 1857 1860 1863 1866 1869 1872 1875 1878 1881 1884 1887 1890 1893 1896 1899 1902 1905 1908 1911 1914 1917 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1935 1939 1943 1947 1951 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023 Referendums 1798 1802 1848 1866 1872 1874 1875 1876 1877 1879 1880 1882 1884 1885 1887 1889 1890 1891 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1900 1902 1903 1905 1906 1907 1908 1910 1912 1913 1914 1915 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Mandatory Optional Popular initiative
Federal courts Federal Supreme Court Federal Criminal Court Federal Administrative Court Federal Patent Court
Foreign relations European Union
Cantons Appenzell Ausserrhoden (AR) Appenzell Innerrhoden (AI) Aargau (AG) Basel-Landschaft (BL) Basel-Stadt (BS) Bern (BE) Fribourg (FR) Geneva (GE) Glarus (GL) Grisons (GR) Jura (JU) Lucerne (LU) Neuchâtel (NE) Nidwalden (NW) Obwalden (OW) Schaffhausen (SH) Schwyz (SZ) Solothurn (SO) St. Gallen (SG) Ticino (TI) Thurgau (TG) Uri (UR) Valais (VS) Vaud (VD) Zug (ZG) Zurich (ZH) Cantonal legislatures Cantonal executives Landsgemeinde
Municipalities (Full list of Municipalities) Aargau Appenzell Innerrhoden Appenzell Ausserrhoden Basel-Landschaft Basel-Stadt Bern Fribourg Geneva Glarus Graubünden Jura Lucerne Neuchâtel Nidwalden Obwalden Schaffhausen Schwyz Solothurn St. Gallen Thurgau Ticino Uri Valais Vaud Zug Zurich
Switzerland portal Other countries
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The government of Switzerland is a federal state with direct democracy.^[1]

• The legislative branch is the Federal Assembly. The Federal Assembly has two parts: the National Council, which represents the public, while the Council of States represents the cantons.^[2]

• The executive branch is the Federal Council, which has seven members who are elected by the Federal Assembly.^[3]

• The judicial branch is headed by the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland, whose judges are elected by the Federal Assembly.

For any change in the constitution, a referendum is mandatory (mandatory referendum); for any change in a law, a referendum can be requested (optional referendum). In addition, the people may present a constitutional popular initiative to introduce amendments to the federal constitution.

The people also assume a role similar to the constitutional court, which does not exist, and thus sovereignty resides with the people, who exercise supreme political power and act as the guardian of the rule of law. According to the V-Dem Democracy indices, Switzerland was in 2023 the most participatory democratic country in the world ^[4] and Freedom House has Switzerland as one of the freest countries in the world, scoring 39/40 points on political rights, and 57/60 on civil liberties for a total of 96/100 in 2024.^[5]

The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Switzerland a "full democracy" in 2022.^{[6][needs update]} According to the V-Dem Democracy indices, Switzerland was in 2023 the 4th most electorally democratic country in the world.^[4]

Cantonal and municipal politics vary in the different cantons, which may have different systems.