The government of Switzerland is a federal state with direct democracy.
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the Waldstätte. Two important periods in the development of the Old Swiss Confederacy are summarized by the terms Acht Orte and Dreizehn Orte.
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.
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 administration of Switzerland is the ensemble of agencies that constitute,together with the Swiss Federal Council,the executive branch of the Swiss federal authorities. The administration is charged with executing federal law and preparing draft laws and policy for the Federal Council and the Federal Assembly.
Karin Keller-Sutter is a Swiss politician who has served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council since 2019. A member of FDP. The Liberals,she is the head of the Federal Department of Finance. Keller-Sutter previously served as President of the Council of States for the 2017–2018 term,and has served as vice president of Switzerland for the 2024 term since 1 January.
Robert Käslin was a jurist and Swiss politician for the Free Democratic Party of Switzerland.
George Bovet was a Swiss Politician from the Free Democratic Party of Switzerland (FDP).
Charles Oser was a Swiss politician from the Free Democratic Party of Switzerland (FDP).
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.
Jörg De Bernardi is a Swiss diplomat and politician. He held the office of Vice-Chancellor of Switzerland between August 2016 and December 2018 and is currently serving as acting Vice-Chancellor,in charge of the Federal Council's affairs.
Viola Patricia Amherd is a Swiss politician who has served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council since 2019,and as President of the Swiss Confederation for 2024 since 1 January. She is the head of the Federal Department of Defence,Civil Protection and Sport. Amherd was a member of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC) before it merged with the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP/PBD) to form The Centre (DM/LC) in 2021,which she joined.
Hanna Muralt Müller is a Swiss politician,member of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland. She held the office of Vice-Chancellor of Switzerland between 1991 and 2005,in charge of the Federal Council sector,which organizes and documents the council's activities. Initially working as a school teacher,she obtained a degree in history at the University of Bern in 1976. In 1978,she worked as a scientific adviser to a parliamentary commission in the canton Bern,before joining the Federal administration in 1983. She first worked for the federal office of education and science,and joined the Chancellery in 1987,leading the Chancellor's general secretariat since February 1988.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have spread to Switzerland on 25 February 2020 when the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed following a COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. A 70-year-old man in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino which borders Italy,tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. The man had previously visited Milan. Afterwards,multiple cases related to the Italy clusters were discovered in multiple cantons,including Basel-City,Zürich,and Graubünden. Multiple isolated cases not related to the Italy clusters were also subsequently confirmed.
Federal referendums were held in Switzerland on 13 February,15 May and 25 September 2022. Swiss referendums take three forms:popular initiatives,which are citizen proposals to create a new law and require 100,000 valid signatures on a petition to get on the ballot;facultative or optional referendums,which are citizen proposals to approve or reject a piece of existing law and require 50,000 valid signatures on a petition to get on the ballot;and mandatory referendums,which are required to revise the constitution,join an international organization or introduce emergency federal legislation for over a year.
Thomas Aeschi is a Swiss businessman,politician and former banker. He currently serves as a member of the National Council (Switzerland) for the Swiss People's Party since 2011. He previously served on the Cantonal Council of Zug from 2010 to 2012.
An election for all seven members of the Federal Council,Switzerland's government,were held on 13 December 2023 for the 2024–2028 term. It followed the federal election held a month earlier and partly depended on its results.
Rachel Salzmann is a Swiss businesswoman and politician.
