The Grand Council of Thurgau (german: Grosser Rat) is the
legislature
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...
of the
canton
Canton may refer to:
Administrative division terminology
* Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland
* Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French
Arts and ent ...
of
Thurgau, in
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. Thurgau has a
unicameral
Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one.
Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...
legislature. The Grand Council has 130 seats, with members elected every four years.
The council has the unique feature in Switzerland of convening in two different locations: the
town hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
of
Frauenfeld in the summer and that of
Weinfelden in the winter.
.
History
The Grand Council was created in 1803 by the
Act of Mediation
The Act of Mediation () was issued by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the French Republic on 19 February 1803 establishing the Swiss Confederation. The act also abolished the previous Helvetic Republic, which had existed since the invasion ...
, which established Thurgau as a Swiss canton. It then counted 100 members who served five-year terms. The council met for the first time on 14 April 1803 at the town hall of Frauenfeld.
The cantonal constitution of 1831 introduced a system of two annual sessions, one taking place in Frauenfeld in the winter and the other in Weinfelden in the summer. In 1869, a new cantonal constitution made the number of seats dependent on the size of the population and shortened the parliamentary term to three years.
In 1966, the duration of the legislature was increased to four years. After the introduction of
women's suffrage
Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
in 1971, the number of seats in the council was fixed at 130. The Thurgau constitution of 1987, which came into force in 1990, switched the meeting places of the council, which now meets in Weinfelden in the winter and in Frauenfeld in the summer.
Elections
The 130 members of the Grand Council of Thurgau are elected by
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
by district, the canton being divided into five districts (
Arbon,
Frauenfeld,
Kreuzlingen
Kreuzlingen is a municipality in the district of Kreuzlingen in the canton of Thurgau in north-eastern Switzerland. It is the seat of the district and is the second-largest city of the canton, after Frauenfeld, with a population of about 22,000. ...
,
Münchwilen and
Weinfelden). Cantonal elections are always held in the spring, after the elections to the
Federal Assembly..
Each voter has as many votes as there are seats to be filled in the district in which they are registered to vote. The seat count per district is determined by the Council of State based on the resident population.
Gesetz über das Stimm- und Wahlrecht
/ref>
References
{{Authority control
Thurgau
Politics of Thurgau
Thurgau