Swiss Democracy at Work
16 December 2022
Switzerland’s political system is unique and functions relatively well. The country is the world champion of direct citizen control over municipal, cantonal, and national policy.
The people directly elect the governments of municipalities and cantons through the absolute majority system per candidate. Moreover, the number of municipal council members or cantonal government members is limited to five or seven. This maximum is stipulated in the Constitution of the cantons and municipal laws.
However, prosperity, political stability, and coherence in this culturally, linguistically, historically, economically, and religiously divided country are not solely a result of its direct democracy. The fundamentals are federal organisation, decentralisation, and subsidiarity.
The cantons are sovereign in many areas: education, health care, social security, justice, and, for example, police. Based on their constitutions, the cantons can delegate powers to municipalities.
However, cantons and municipalities must respect international treaties, federal law, and the Constitution. The highest federal court (the Bundesgericht/Tribunal fédéral in Lausanne) and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg are the supreme judges in these cases.
Powers of federation
The federal government’s powers are limited and only transferred after approval by cantons and citizens. Since the creation of the modern Confoederatio Helvetica in 1848, and especially after 1945, more and more powers have been transferred.
The recent COVID-19 pandemic has also exposed the tension in the relationship between 26 sovereign cantons and the federal government. This discussion has been ongoing for a long time and has yet to be closed concerning possible reforms. This system also has its weaknesses.
The federal government has about 40,000 civil servants. According to the Constitution of 1848, it is limited to seven ministers (Bundesrat/Bundesrätin/conseilleur fédéral).
The government’s composition is based on the principles of collegiality (Kollegialitätsprinzip), cooperation (Konkordanzprinzip), and the magic formula (Zauberformel).
The government (Bundesrat/Conseil fédéral )
Other contributions cover the functioning of the government, the executive, the parliament-government relationship, the composition of the parliament, and the legislature, consisting of the Council of States (Ständerat/Conseil d’ Etats) and the National Council (National Rat/Conseil national). This article focuses on the appointment procedure of the seven federal ministers.
The seven ministers are elected one by one by the parliament (the 246 members of the two chambers) and appointed after the general national elections under the proportional system or if ministers resign or die during their mandate.
The magic formula’s distribution is fixed based on the four largest parties: 2-2-2-1 in parliament. The government is always a coalition government. A new primus/prima inter pares is elected annually from the seven ministers as head of state but without prime minister status.
After the ministers are chosen by parliament, the seven departments are distributed based on experience, competence, ambitions and qualities. Ministers are appointed for four years and cannot be forced to resign mid-term (except in particular circumstances). The government, on the other hand, cannot dissolve parliament.
The appointment procedure
Candidates must meet some constitutional requirements (including Swiss citizenship with political rights, not being a member of parliament or the Federal Court and a proportional representation of government members by (language) region).
An absolute majority of the votes is needed, which sometimes leads to two or three rounds of voting.
However, based on the magic formula, the choice is limited to the membership of one of the four largest parties. Today, these are the Schweizerische Volkspartei (SVP, two ministers), the Sozialistische Partei (SP, two ministers), the Freie Demokratische Partei (FDP, two ministers) and die Mitte (1 minister). If a minister resigns or dies mid-term, members of their party become the new minister.
The procedure’s strength is its carefulness. Lengthy processes and voting rounds occur within the party in the cantons and at the national level. Based on this selection, two or three candidates usually remain for the decisive vote in parliament. The party’s favourite does not automatically get the majority. Sometimes, in 14% of cases, party outsiders are elected against the will of the party’s faction!
The election
Candidates often have long-term experience in (cantonal or federal) politics, support in the party, organisational expertise and personal characteristics, with career and engagement/ involvement in the country’s functioning as essential criteria.
A concrete example is the appointment of two new ministers due to the interim resignation of Minister Ueli Mauer of the SVP and Simonneta Sommaruga of the SP. Several candidates applied for both vacancies.
After lengthy procedures within the cantons, the party at the national level and in the parliamentary groups, two candidates remained for each party. The SP wants a woman. That in itself is not remarkable these days. However, the new canton of Jura (since 1979) may get a ministerial post for the first time or canton Basel-Stadt for only the third time since 1848!
7 December 2022
Albert Rösti (SVP) from Bern and Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (SP) from Jura, an outsider, were elected on 7 December. Thus, the canton of Jura, founded in 1979, is represented in the Federal Council for the first time in its history.
With the election of Elisabeth Baume-Schneider from the French-speaking Jura, the German-speaking part of Switzerland no longer forms the majority in the Federal Council, as it now has four members from Latin (Tessin and Romandie) Switzerland.
Moreover, the Nationalrat has recently appointed Martin Candinas from Ilanz/Glion as its president, a Romansh-speaking (Surselvan) region (canton of Graubünden).
Conclusion
Who the new ministers will be is not the subject of this contribution, and the outcome of the decisive votes in parliament on 7 December is irrelevant from this perspective.
The individual scrutiny of candidates, the structures, procedures and the political system are relevant. They are the fundament of the prosperity, stability, cohesion, state of law and (social) security of the country and its cantons and communes.
This system was created over a long period, through centuries of cooperation, (armed) conflicts, different economic and geographical orientations and interests, experiences, statesmanship, pragmatism, and willingness to compromise.
Due to its federal, decentralised, bottom-up concept and direct democracy, the political system is virtually immune to the delusion of the day.
(Source: A. Vatter, Der Bundesrat, Basel 2020).