The government of Switzerland is a federal state with direct democracy.
Kaspar Villiger is a Swiss businessman,former tobacco manufacturer and politician. He served as a member of the Federal Council (Switzerland) since 1 February 1989 for The Liberals. Villiger served two terms as President of the Swiss Confederation in 1995 and again in 2002. He previously served on the Council of States (Switzerland) from 1987 to 1989 and on the National Council (Switzerland) from 1982 to 1987.
Moritz Leuenberger is a Swiss politician and lawyer who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 1995 to 2010. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS),he was President of the Swiss Confederation in 2001 and 2006. Leuenberger headed the Federal Department of Environment,Transport,Energy and Communications for the whole of his tenure as a Federal Councillor.
Flavio Cotti was a Swiss politician who served as member of the Federal Council from 1986 to 1999. He was a member of the Christian Democratic People's Party from the canton of Ticino. In the 1990s,Cotti led the Swiss government's unsuccessful attempts to further Switzerland's political integration into the European Union. He was President of the Confederation in 1991 and 1998 and headed the departments of Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs.
Jean-Pascal Delamuraz was a Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council (1983–1998).
The federal chancellor is the head of the Federal Chancellery of Switzerland,the oldest Swiss federal institution,established at the initiative of Napoleon in 1803. The officeholder acts as the general staff of the seven-member Federal Council. The Chancellor is not a member of the government and the office is not at all comparable to that of the Chancellor of Germany or the Chancellor of Austria,or to the United Kingdom's Chancellor of the Exchequer.
The Federal Council is the federal cabinet of the Swiss Confederation. Its seven members also serve as the collective head of state and government of Switzerland. Since after World War II,the Federal Council is by convention a permanent grand coalition government composed of representatives of the country's major parties and language regions.
Micheline Anne-Marie Calmy-Rey is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS),she was the head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs during her tenure as a Federal Councillor. She was President of the Swiss Confederation twice,in 2007 and 2011.
Hans-Rudolf Merz is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2004 to 2010. A member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP/PRD) until the foundation of FDP.The Liberals in 2009,he headed the Federal Department of Finance during his tenure as a Federal Councillor. Merz served as President of the Swiss Confederation in 2009.
The Federal Department of Economic Affairs,Education and Research is one of the seven departments of the federal government of Switzerland,headed by a Member of the Swiss Federal Council.
Alain Berset is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2012 to 2023. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS),he headed the Federal Department of Home Affairs from when he took office. Berset served as President of the Swiss Confederation for 2018 and 2023.
Doris Leuthard is a Swiss politician and lawyer who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2006 to 2018. A member of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC),she was elected as President of the Swiss Confederation for 2010 and 2017. Leuthard headed the Federal Department of Economic Affairs until 2010,when she became head of the Federal Department of Environment,Transport,Energy and Communications. As of 19 December 2019 she is a member of the board of the Kofi Annan Foundation and Stadler Rail.
Didier Eric Burkhalter is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2009 to 2017. A member of FDP.The Liberals,he was President of the Swiss Confederation in 2014.
On December 12,2007,all seven members of the Federal Council,the government of Switzerland,were elected by the joint chambers of the Federal Assembly for the 2008–2012 term of office. Councillors are elected individually by an absolute majority of votes,with the incumbent councillors defending their seats in descending order of seniority.
Pascal Broulis is a Swiss politician. Since 2002,he has been a member of the Council of State in the canton of Vaud. He headed the cantonal finance department,and has been the President of the Council of State from 2007 to 2012. He no longer stood in the 2022 Council of State elections.
Johann Niklaus Schneider,known as Johann Schneider-Ammann,is a Swiss businessman and politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2010 to 2018. A member of FDP.The Liberals,he was President of the Swiss Confederation in 2016. During his tenure as a Federal Councillor,Schneider-Ammann headed the Federal Department of Economic Affairs,Education and Research.
The president of the Swiss Confederation,also known as the president of the confederation,federal president or colloquially as the president of Switzerland,is as primus inter pares among the other members of the Federal Council formally the head of Switzerland's seven-member executive branch. Elected by the Federal Assembly for one year,the officeholder chairs the meetings of the Federal Council and undertakes special representational duties.
François Couchepin was a Swiss lawyer and politician who served as Chancellor of Switzerland from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the now-defunct Free Democratic Party of Switzerland (FDP/PRD).
Walter Thurnherr is a Swiss government official who served as Chancellor of Switzerland from 2016 to 2023. Although he holds a traditionally nonpartisan office,he was elected as a member of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC). When it merged with the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP/PBD) to form The Centre (DM/LC) in 2021,Thurnherr joined the new party.
