Magic Formula (Swiss Politics)
In Swiss politics, the magic formula (german: Zauberformel, french: formule magique, it, formula magica) is an arithmetic formula for dividing the seven executive seats on the Federal Council among the four coalition parties. The formula was first applied in 1959. It gave the Free Democratic Party (now FDP.The Liberals), the Catholic Conservative Party (later Christian Democratic People's Party, now The Centre) and the Social Democratic Party two seats each, while the Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents (now the Swiss People's Party) received one seat. The formula is not a legal requirement but the result of an agreement among the four large coalition parties. After the 2003 general election, the formula was modified, giving two seats to the SVP/UDC at the expense of the Christian Democrats. This was because the Swiss People's Party received 29% of the votes in the election, making it Switzerland's largest party by vote share. After the election of Eveline Widme ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Conservative Democratic Party Of Switzerland
The Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland (german: Bürgerlich-Demokratische Partei Schweiz, BDP; french: Parti bourgeois démocratique suisse, PBD; it, Partito Borghese Democratico Svizzero, PBD; rm, , PBD; ''Swiss Democratic Bourgeois Party'') was a conservative political party in Switzerland from 2008 to 2020. After the 2019 federal election, the BDP had three members in the National Council. It was founded as a moderate splinter group from the national-conservative Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC); it was created as a political party on the federal level on 1 November 2008. It was led by Martin Landolt. It had, until January 2016, one Federal Councillor, Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, whose election in defiance of the SVP/UDC incumbent Christoph Blocher led to the creation of the party. It comprised most of the SVP/UDC's old centrist-agrarian wing, which had been overshadowed in recent years by its nationalist-activist wing. The party's name in German, French, Italian and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Swiss Federal Council
The Federal Council (german: Bundesrat; french: Conseil fédéral; it, Consiglio federale; rm, Cussegl federal) is the executive body of the federal government of the Swiss Confederation and serves as the collective head of state and government of Switzerland. It meets in the west wing of the Federal Palace in Bern. While the entire Federal Council is responsible for leading the federal administration of Switzerland, each Councillor heads one of the seven federal executive departments. The position of President of the Swiss Confederation rotates among the seven Councillors on a yearly basis, with one year's Vice President of Switzerland becoming the next year's President of Switzerland. Ignazio Cassis has been the incumbent officeholder since 1 January 2022. An election of the entire Federal Council occurs every four years; voting is restricted to the 246 members of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland. There is no mechanism for recall after election. Incumbents are almost a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Concordance System
Concordance democracy is a type of governing / ruling a country that aims to involve as many different groups as possible (parties, associations, minorities, social groups) in the political process and to make decisions by reaching a consensus. In this respect, concordance democracy is a form of consensus democracy in which majority rule as a decision-making mechanism does not play a central role in the political system. The counter-model to concordance democracy is called competitive democracy or majority democracy. In Swiss politics, the concordance system (German ''Konkordanzsystem'') is the integration of the major political parties into the seven-member Federal Council. The concordance system is based on two principles *an arithmetic rule of proportionality: the Federal Council should be representative of the political forces of the country, that is, its composition should be similar to that of the Federal Assembly. *a political rule of consensus: the government must r ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
2019 Swiss Federal Council Election
An election for all seven members of the Federal Council, the Government of Switzerland, was held on 11 December 2019, following the federal election on 20 October 2019, for the 2020–2024 term. All Federal Councillors were reelected to their seats by the Federal Assembly in the first round of voting, either for another full four-year term (Ueli Maurer, Simonetta Sommaruga, Alain Berset, Guy Parmelin) or a first full four-year term (Ignazio Cassis, Viola Amherd, Karin Keller-Sutter). No portfolio changes were made after the election. Background The Federal Council is the federal executive of Switzerland. It is composed of 7 members, elected for a 4-year term by both houses of the Swiss parliament sitting together as the Federal Assembly after each federal election. Decisions are taken collegially, only deferring to a vote when no consensus can be reached; decisions once taken are then defended by the entire council acting as a single decision-maker. Any Swiss eligible t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
2015 Swiss Federal Council Election
An election for all seven members of the Federal Council, the Government of Switzerland, was held on 9 December 2015, following the federal election on 19 October 2015, for the 2016–2020 term. Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, a member of the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP/PBD), announced she would not run for reelection after the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC) won a record 29.4% of the vote, whilst her own party received 4.1% of the vote. The SVP/UDC was widely expected to fill her seat in the election; it chose Thomas Aeschi (Zug), Guy Parmelin (Vaud) and Norman Gobbi (Ticino) as candidates for the seat, with Aeschi being the favourite at the time. Guy Parmelin, of the SVP/UDC, was ultimately elected by the Federal Assembly on 9 December 2015. Parmelin, a farmer and winegrower from Bursins in the canton of Vaud, became the first Federal Councillor of the Swiss People's Party from the French-speaking part of Switzerland. There was a minor cabinet reshuffle after the election, a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Guy Parmelin
Guy Bernard Parmelin (; born 9 November 1959) is a Swiss politician, who served as president of Switzerland in 2021, having previously served as vice president of Switzerland in 2020. A member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), he has been a member of the Swiss Federal Council since 2016. Parmelin has served as head of the Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research since 2019, previously heading the Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports between 2016 and 2018. (Page visited on 9 December 2015). Biography Early political career A master wine grower by trade, he was elected to the Grand Council of Vaud from 1994 until 2003, when he was elected to the National Council for the canton of Vaud. From 2000 to 2004, Parmelin was also president of the Swiss People's Party of the canton of Vaud. On 9 December 2015, he was elected by the Federal Assembly to the Federal Council in replacement of Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf. Member of the Federal Council After ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Swissinfo
SWI swissinfo.ch is a multilingual news and information platform produced by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR). Its content is Swiss-centred, with top priority given to in-depth information on politics, the economy, the arts, science, education, and direct democracy. Switzerland's international political, economic and cultural relations are other key points of focus. The website is available in ten languages. History In the mid-1990s, economic circumstances forced swissinfo.ch to take a new strategic direction. The internet was advancing fast, heralding a new era for the producing journalists and the Swiss Radio International (SRI) audience alike. The German, French, English and Portuguese sites went online in 1999. The Italian, Japanese and Spanish sites followed in 2000, with Arabic going live on 1 February 2001 and Chinese in September of the same year. Within just two years, the internet platform for expatriate Swiss was already better known than SRI's short-wav ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
2015 Swiss Federal Election
Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 18 October 2015 for the National Council (Switzerland), National Council and the first round of elections to the Council of States (Switzerland), Council of States, with runoff elections to the Council of States being held in various cantons until 22 November. Results showed a shift, due to voter concerns regarding refugee immigration, to the Right-wing politics, right and increased support for the three largest parties, with the strong showing of Swiss People's Party and FDP.The Liberals possibly affecting future reforms of energy, social security and tax issues, as well as the make-up of the seven-member government. The Swiss People's Party won a record number of seats, taking a third of the 200-seat lower house. The SVP received the highest proportion of votes of any Swiss political party since 1919, when proportional representation was first introduced, and it received more seats in the National Council than any other political par ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Ueli Maurer
Ulrich "Ueli" Maurer (; born 1 December 1950) is a Swiss politician who has served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council since 2009. A member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), he was President of the Swiss Confederation in 2013 and 2019. Formerly head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports (2009–2015), Maurer has headed the Federal Department of Finance since 2016. He has been the longest-serving current member of the Federal Council since Doris Leuthard's resignation in 2018. An accountant by occupation, Maurer chaired the Swiss People's Party from 1996 to 2008. Elected by the Swiss Federal Assembly to succeed Federal Councillor Samuel Schmid in 2008, he took office on 1 January 2009. Maurer served as Vice President of Switzerland for 2012 and 2018 and President of Switzerland for 2013 and 2019. He was reelected to the Federal Council in 2011, 2015 (when his party gained one seat) and 2019 (an election which saw all members of the Federal C ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Samuel Schmid
Samuel Schmid (born 8 January 1947) is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2000 to 2008. He was the head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports (notably acting as a defense minister for Switzerland). Schmid was born in Rüti bei Büren, Canton of Bern. He was elected to the Federal Council on 6 December 2000. He was a member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), and is now a member of the Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland. During his time in office he has held the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports. In 2004, he was the vice-President of the Confederation and President in 2005. Schmid was a member of the SVP's centrist/agrarian wing. He was put under pressure by the party's nationalist wing, led by National Councillor Christoph Blocher, for taking a moderate stance on certain issues. After the SVP became the largest party in the Federal Assembly in the 2003 federal electio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Politics Of Switzerland
Switzerland is a semi-direct democratic federal republic. The federal legislative power is vested in the two chambers of the Federal Assembly: the National Council and the Council of States. The Federal Council holds the executive power and is composed of seven power-sharing Federal Councillors elected by the Federal Assembly. The judicial branch is headed by the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland, whose judges are elected by the Federal Assembly. Switzerland has a tradition of direct democracy. 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 act as the guardian of the rule of law. Cantonal and municipal politics vary in the differen ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |