Europe at Present [Spring 2003]
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Federal AssemblyThe Federal Assembly or Parliament meets in the Bundeshaus in Bern and consists of two houses or Kammern (chambers): Ständerat also called the kleine Kammer ("small chamber") with two representatives of each canton, or one representative of each split-canton, regardless of the size of the population of the canton and Nationalrat also called the grosse Kammer ("large chamber") with 200 representatives, the number of representatives is proportional to the population of the cantons, but there is at least one representative of a canton. BundesratSeven members, elected by the Vereinigte Bundesversammlung, a combined assembly of both chambers, constitute the Bundesrat. The Bundesräte / Bundesrätinnen head the following departments): Foreign Affairs, Home Affairs, Justice and Police, Defence, Civil Protection and Sports, Finance, Economic Affairs, Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications. Elections take place every four years.253 However, according to the political tradition members’ term is practically unlimited as they are elected again. It is finished when a member dies, retires or commits a serious offence or crime. The average term lasts 10 years, but the longest lasted for 28 years. 254 In theory any Swiss citizen can stand for the post; in practice the new councillor is chosen from a list put forward by the outgoing councillor's party. Members of the Federal Council are not members of parliament. Until the constitution was amended on January 1 2000, no two councillors could come from the same canton. Although this rule has been dropped, efforts are made to try to ensure that all areas of the country are represented. In recent years there has also been a move to put forward more female candidates. The Federal Council is assisted and advised on the running of its business by the Federal Chancellery. The Chancellor attends weekly cabinet meetings in a consultative capacity, and is sometimes referred to unofficially as "the 8th councillor.255 Each year, a different member becomes Federal President (Bundespräsident/Bundespräsidentin). The post confers no special powers or privileges, and the president continues to administer his or her own department. They welcome heads of states visiting Switzerland and accepts credentials of ambassadors.256 At the moment the chief of state and the head of government are President Pascal Couchepin (since 1 January 2003) and Vice President Ruth Metzler (since 1 January 2003).257 The four strongest parties are represented in the council: Free Democrats (2 members), Social Democrats (2 members), Christian Democrats (2 members) and Swiss People’s Party (1 member).
“Magic formula”The system, known as the "magic formula" was worked out by members of parliament in 1959. All members of the Federal Council take collective responsibility for decisions. Some analysts see the system as a way to tame dissent, bringing potential opposition into government. Since it is not part of the constitution, its existence is not set in stone and its future is the source of debate, although at present it is not under serious threat. If the Federal Councilor wants to change the law, he or she has to convince the other Federal Council members. They might object that it would be pointless, since it would certainly have no chance in parliament. Various relevant lobbies are consulted and a draft compromise is formulated. That draft goes to one of the two chambers of the Swiss Federal Assembly. The first chamber discusses it in committee, then as a body. Once the proposal has passed the hurdle of the first chamber, it moves on to the other one where the procedure is repeated. The order in which the chambers examine any particular proposal is decided by their speakers. No proposal can become law unless it is accepted by both chambers of Federal Assembly.258 People can take direct influence by two means. 100'000 citizens can request a voting about a change or extension of the Bundesverfassung ("constitution") or the Bundesgesetzt ("federal law") and it is an initiative. If the Bundesrat wants to change or extend the Bundesverfassung ("constitution") or the Bundesgesetz ("federal law"), 50'000 citizens can request a voting about, which is called referendum. Confederation and cantons The duties of the confederation are defined in the Bundesverfassung ("federal constitution") and include: protection of the country and its citizens, postal services, telephone and telecommunications (PTT), monetary system (Nationalbank, "national bank"), transportation (Nationalstrassen (motor ways, railway), military, customs, diplomatic relations with other countries. Switzerland consists of 23 Kantone (singular Kanton, cantons or states), 3 of them are divided into Halb-Kantone ("split states"): Cantons have the following authorities: Grosser Rat, Kantonsrat or Landesrat(the name varies between the cantons), legislative authority; Kantonsregierung, executive authority and Kantonsgericht, judicial authority. The cantons Appenzell, Glarus and Unterwalden do not perform elections and voting, but a so called Landsgemeinde, an out door assembly of all its citizens. The attendees raise their hands to show if they agree with or deny a particular request. The duties of the cantons are defined in their Kantonsverfassung ("cantonal constitution") and include education, transportation (Kantonsstrassen, "cantonal roads") and social institutions.259 There are also areas where confederation has legislative and cantons executive power: standard weights and measures, traffic, organization if the army, labour law, social insurance or civil and criminal law. Legislative authority is mixed in case of taxes, building of roads, hunting, fishery, insurances and education.260 |