Switzerland's democracy is based on the Swiss Federal Constitution and knows the Separation of powers. This means that state power is distributed among various state organs. At the national level, this looks as follows:
The Legislative (legislative power) is the national parliament. It is also called the Federal Assembly and consists of two chambers: the National Council and the Council of States. The National Council has 200 members and represents the people. The Council of States with 46 members represents the 26 cantons in parliament.
The Executive (executive power) is the Federal Council (National Government). It has seven members, who preside over the Federal Administration. One person from the Federal Council additionally assumes the function of the President of the Federal Council for one year at a time.
The Judiciary (judicial power) consists, at the national level, of the Federal Court, the Federal Criminal Court and the Federal Administrative Court.
Analogous to the Confederation (the state as a whole), the 26 cantons (constituent states) in Switzerland also recognize the separation of powers; however, their structure may vary: There are cantonal parliaments (not in all cantons), cantonal governments and cantonal courts.
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