Bundesversammlung (Switzerland)
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The Federal Assembly (german: Bundesversammlung, french: Assemblée fédérale, it, Assemblea federale, rm, Assamblea federala), also known as the Swiss parliament (''Parlament'', ''Parlement'', ''Parlamento''), is
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 ...
's federal legislature. It meets in
Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...
in the
Federal Palace The Federal Palace is a building in Bern housing the Swiss Federal Assembly (legislature) and the Federal Council (executive). It is the seat of the government of Switzerland and parliament of the country. The building is a listed symmetrica ...
. The Federal Assembly is
bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single grou ...
, being composed of the 200-seat National Council and the 46-seat Council of States. The houses have identical powers. Members of both houses represent the
cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, t ...
, but, whereas seats in the National Council are distributed in proportion to population, each canton has two seats in the Council of States, except the six '
half-canton The 26 cantons of Switzerland (german: Kanton; french: canton ; it, cantone; Sursilvan and Surmiran: ; Vallader and Puter: ; Sutsilvan: ; Rumantsch Grischun: ) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confe ...
s', which have one seat each. Both are elected in full once every four years, with the last election being held in 2019. The Federal Assembly possesses the federal government's legislative power, along with the separate constitutional right of citizen's initiative. For a law to pass, it must be passed by both houses. The two houses may come together as a United Federal Assembly in certain circumstances, such as to elect the Federal Council (the head of government and state), the Federal Chancellor, the
federal judges Federal judges are judges appointed by a federal level of government as opposed to the state/provincial/local level. United States A US federal judge is appointed by the US President and confirmed by the US Senate in accordance with Article 3 of ...
or (only in times of great national danger) a general.


History

Prior to the establishment of the federal state in 1848, the only central organ of
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 ...
was the Federal Diet ('' Tagsatzung''). Following the Sonderbund War in 1847, the ''Tagsatzung'' became responsible for drawing up the
Swiss Federal Constitution The Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation (SR 10; german: Bundesverfassung der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft (BV); french: Constitution fédérale de la Confédération suisse (Cst.); it, Costituzione federale della Confederaz ...
. The process of formulating legislative power resulted in clashing opinions, in particular in relation to the representation of the various cantons: the
radicals Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...
, in the majority in the largest
cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, t ...
, pushed for a system where representation was purely proportional to the population of each township; the small cantons, for their part, feared being marginalized. After long debates, a compromise was found by adopting the American model of bicameralism; the parliament will be composed of two chambers with equal power, and the agreement of both will be required to take a decision. The National Council, which represents the people, will comprise representatives from each canton with their distribution being proportional to the population of the cantons, while the Council of States, which represents the cantons, will be composed of the same number of representatives from each canton. According to the Constitution of 1848, the Federal Assembly is "the supreme authority of the Confederation". The ''Tagsatzung'' accepted the draft constitution in June 1848. On September 12, following the vote of the various cantons, it noted that the Constitution had been approved and dissolved itself on September 22, as required by the transitional provisions of the approved text. During the month of October 1848, elections were organized in the cantons in order to elect the deputies. After a few skirmishes, particularly in the canton of Fribourg, the results were announced which confirmed the victory of the radicals, who won more than three-quarters of the seats in the National Council and 30 of the 44 seats in the Council of States. On, November 16 1848, Parliament elected the first Federal Council. In 1874, following the revision of the Constitution and the introduction of extended popular rights, the Federal Assembly became "the supreme authority of the Confederation subject to the rights of the people and the cantons". The organization of the two councils has changed little over time. When the National Council was created, the total number of seats was 111. This number was not fixed and evolved in proportion to the growth of the Swiss population until 1962 when the definitive number of seats was established at 200; the term of office, meanwhile, was increased from the original 3 years to 4 years in 1931. The mode of election, originally according to the majority system, transitioned to proportional representation in 1918. The Council of States, meanwhile, was not modified until 1979, by adding two new seats for the Canton of Jura which had just been created.


Composition

The Federal Assembly is made up of two chambers: *the National Council, with 200 seats; and *the Council of States, with 46 councillors. Seats in the National Council are allocated to the
cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, t ...
proportionally, based on population. In the Council of States, every
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 ...
has two seats (except for the former "half-cantons", which have one seat each).


United Federal Assembly

On occasions the two houses sit jointly as the "United Federal Assembly" (german: Vereinigte Bundesversammlung, french: Assemblée fédérale, Chambres réunies, it, Assemblea federale plenaria, rm, Assamblea federala plenara). This is done to: * elect members of the Federal Council, the Federal Chancellor, the
federal judges Federal judges are judges appointed by a federal level of government as opposed to the state/provincial/local level. United States A US federal judge is appointed by the US President and confirmed by the US Senate in accordance with Article 3 of ...
or (only in times of great national danger) a general * arbitrate in the event of conflicts between
federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...
authorities; * issue
pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the ju ...
s; or * listen to special announcements The United Federal Assembly is presided by the National Council's presidency. The Federal Assembly also confirms the appointment of the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (appointed by the Federal Council).


Groups

Parties can cooperate in ''parliamentary groups'', also called political groups, allowing smaller parties access to rights as part of a
caucus A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...
. At least five members from the same Council are needed to form a group. Only informal groups exist in the Council of States. Members of the National Council are required to be in a formal group in order to be able to sit on a committee. Since March 2009, there have been six groups in the Federal Assembly. The latest group to form was the Conservative Democratic Party which split off the Swiss People's Party in 2008. The Christian Democrats/EPP/glp Group (CEg) was formed after the 2007 elections, out of the former Christian Democratic (C) and EPP (E) groups. The current FTP/Liberal group (RL) was formed in 2003 out of the former FDP (R) and Liberal (L) groups; since the 2009 fusion of the Free Democrati and Liberal Parties, RL is once again a single-party group. In 2011, the CEg was disbanded, the Green Liberals formed their own parliamentary group (GL) and the three Christian parties formed the Christian-Evangelical Group (CE).


51st legislature (2019–2023)

Currently (for the legislative period of 2019–2023), the six parliamentary groups are composed as follows:


50th legislature (2015–2019)

After the 2015 federal election, the Federal Assembly was composed of 7 groups:


See also

*
2019 Swiss federal election Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 20 October 2019 to elect all members of both houses of the Federal Assembly. This was followed by the 2019 election to the Swiss Federal Council, the federal executive, by the United Federal Assemb ...
*
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 ...
*
2011 Swiss federal election Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 23 October 2011. All of the Federal Assembly were to be elected: all 200 seats in the National Council and all 46 seats in the Council of States. Voter turnout was 49.1%, compared to 48.9% in 2 ...
*
2007 Swiss federal election Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, 21 October 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, and 25 Novembe ...
*
Hotel Bellevue Palace The Bellevue Palace is a five-star luxury hotel located in the Old City of Bern, Switzerland. Owned by the Swiss Confederation, it is the state's guesthouse for visiting heads of state and government, and is host to dozens of members of parl ...
*
Federal Diet of Switzerland The Federal Diet of Switzerland (german: Tagsatzung, ; french: Diète fédérale; it, Dieta federale) was the legislative and executive council of the Old Swiss Confederacy and existed in various forms from the beginnings of Swiss independe ...


Notes and references


Bibliography

*


External links


Official website
* {{Authority control Government of Switzerland
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Politics of Switzerland 1848 establishments in Switzerland