Switzerland is based on a federal constitution (basic law of the state) and is thus a Rule of law. She is a direct democracy, citizens can therefore have a strong say in public affairs.

 Switzerland is often even referred to as a model democracy. There are four main reasons for this:

• The individual freedoms of every person are guaranteed by the Federal Constitution.
• Minorities are thanks to a federalist state structure protected.
• The Voice of the people is in Switzerland widely developed. Therefore, several times a year Referendums are held, in which citizens can participate in decision-making on important issues.
• By means of Popular initiative citizens can demand an amendment to the Federal Constitution. And with a Referendum it is possible to submit parliamentary resolutions to the people for a final decision after the fact.

Switzerland is also federalist, because it is made up of cantons that enjoy extensive autonomy. Today Switzerland counts 26 cantons, from which six Half-Cantons are.

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Information on the Swiss political system

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.

The Swiss political system

In Switzerland, the Federalism and the Subsidiarity to the basic principles of state policy. In simplified terms, this means first of all that the Confederation, the 26 cantons and the approximately 2,600 municipalities in Switzerland divide up public tasks among themselves, with the cantons being as independent as possible.

Federalism: The cantons in Switzerland have a high degree of autonomy. They have their own constitutions, parliaments (not in all cantons), governments, courts and police. One consequence of this is that there are a large number of different legal norms. Agreements among the cantons ensure that the Swiss economic area nevertheless functions well.

Thanks to this federal system, the interests of small groups and minorities are better protected. One disadvantage, however, is that the interaction between the federal government, cantons and municipalities can sometimes be very complex and time-consuming.

Subsidiarity: The important basic idea here is that the smaller structures (municipalities and cantons) are initially responsible for solving tasks. If the municipality cannot handle a task, the canton takes over responsibility. And for those tasks that even the canton alone cannot fulfill, the responsibility passes to the federal government. Examples of this are foreign policy, labor law, civil and criminal law, vocational training or national infrastructure.

Switzerland is a Multi-party state. The four largest parties in the country are represented in the Federal Council (national government) (alphabetical order):

• The center
• Free Democratic Party. The Liberals (FDP)
• Swiss People's Party (SVP)
• Social Democratic Party (SP)

There are quite a few other parties in the country. A list of all registered parties in Switzerland can be found here here. Because no party has an absolute majority, Swiss politics is always about that, compromises acceptable to the majority to find.

Swiss citizens have a whole range of options for actively shaping politics in the country. To do this, they must at least 18 years old be a Swiss citizen and have Swiss citizenship.

Most instruments of political participation in Switzerland require citizenship; they are therefore reserved for Swiss citizens. However, some cantons have already introduced the Voting and election rights for persons with a migration background introduced at the municipal or cantonal level.
However, migrants have the possibility of political participation through petition in all cantons.