Institut für Föderalismus der Universität Fribourg
Institut du Fédéralisme de l’Université de Fribourg
Switzerland
An Illustration of Federal Principles
Dr. Nicolas Schmitt
SCIENTIFIC FORUM – DECENTRALIZATION AND SWISS FEDERALISM
4 September 2012 - Institute of Regional Studies, Pécs
Main theme :
How do principles of federalism in
Switzerland contribute to the
peaceful co-existence of several
minorities ?
1. What is federalism ?
1.1. Notions : Federalism and Federation
Federalism refers to the advocacy of a multi-tiered
government combining elements of
shared-rule (collaborative partnership) through a
common government
and
regional self-rule (constituent unit autonomy) for
the governments of the constituent units.
1.2. This is not the Atomium in Brussels
SELF
RULE
SELF
RULE
SHARED
RULE
SELF
RULE
SELF
RULE
Why Federalism ?
Efficacité
Efficiency
Self rule
Shared rule
Stability
Federalism
State
State
State
State
State
State
State
1.2. Very Brief History of this concept
 In modern times United States adopted a federal
constitution in 1787, often regarded as the first modern
federation.
 Switzerland has transformed its confederation (which
was founded in 1291) into a federation in 1848.
 Canada became the third modern federation in 1867.
 In 1871 the North German Federation of 1867 was
expanded to include South German States (but both do
not survive so far).
 Thirty years later, in 1901, Australia became a fullfledged federation.
 In addition during the XIXth century some Latin American
republics adopted federal structures as U.S. but these
proved unstable (Venezuela, Mexico, Brazil,
Argentina).
 What about the XXIth century ?
- The world appears to be in the midst of a paradigm
shift from a world of sovereign nation-states to a world
of diminished state sovereignty and increased
interstate linkages of a constitutionally federal
character.
- There are at present some twenty-five countries
encompassing over 40 percent of the world’s
population that each exhibits the fundamental
characteristics of a functioning federation.
2. What is Switzerland ?
Covering an area 41’285 square kilometres (225
times smaller than the United States) and located
in the heart of Europe, Switzerland is home to
7’261’000 people
But, first of all , it is a …
very diverse Country…
Swiss Diversity
 Geographically, the country is divided into five zones.
 Switzerland has four national languages : German,
French, Italian and Romansch.
 In terms of religion, Switzerland is equally diverse:
Roman Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox Christians,
Christian Catholics, Muslims and Jews.
 All these institutional, political, geographic, linguistic
and religious diversities, joined to the large spectrum
of socio-cultural divergences, make of Switzerland a
country in which almost every inhabitant represents a
specific minority.
3. Federalism in Switzerland
3.1. How did Switzerland emerge ?
Switzerland is the result of a very long aggregation and
centralization process …
As Egypt is “a gift of Nile”, Switzerland is “a gift of
history”
3.2 How did Switzerland
emerge ?
GL
BS/BL
SH
1501 ZH 1352 1501
1351
BE SO
LU AI/AR
1353 1481
1332 1513
NE
1815
GE
1815
SCHWYZ
FR
1481
URI
UNTERWALD
ZG
1352
1291
VS
1815
Confederation of XIII Cantons
 1798
Multicultural Switzerland :
territorial heterogeneity
Multicultural Switzerland :
Linguistic Diversity
Multicultural Switzerland :
Religious Diversity
Eva Schmassmann
Le système politique Suisse
17
4.The influence of Federalism on
the Swiss institutions :
three examples
 The Legislative (a bicameral parliament)
 The Executive (or Federal Council, a collegial
government)
 The process for amending the Constitution
4.1. A Bicameral Parliament
Federal Assembly
246 Members
Council of States
46 Members
National Council
200 Members
 The 200 deputies in the National Council are
elected according to a standardized procedure,
each canton representing an electoral district. The
largest cantons have many deputies (ZH with 34
and BE with 26), whereas the smallest cantons
(AI, AR, GL, OW, NW, and UR) have only one
deputy.
 Over time, there have been changes to how the
46 deputies to the Council of States are elected,
as this responsibility has gradually been taken
from the cantonal legislatures and given to the
people.
 The popular election of members of the Council
of States implies that they are not “real” cantonal
representatives.
 The resulting need for greater cantonal
representation was one of the reasons for the
creation of the CdC (Conference of Cantonal
Governments) in 1993.
4.2. A Collegial Government
• The existence of a collegial government in Switzerland is
a good illustration of the specificities of each federal
system.
• United States, with its royal English background, opted for
a presidential regime.
• Switzerland on the contrary, with its culture of diversity,
has chosen a quite unique system of collegial Head of
State encompassing seven members.
- This system derives from the French First Republic,
more precisely the “Constitution de l’An III”
(Titre IV, Art. 32).
- Paradoxically, this system failed quickly in France,
but has survived in Switzerland so far.
 The Federal Council
HEAD OF STATE
PRIME MINISTER
GOVERNMENT
HEAD OF THE ADMINISTRATION
• Cantons are not directly represented in the Federal Council
despite the clause providing that the Council represents the
geographical and linguistic diversity of the country.
• The Federal Council is a coalition government of four main
national political parties.
• In 1959 the Federal Assembly opted for a political composition that has become known as the “magic formula”.
• Its collegial nature allows minorities to be represented in
the highest bodies of the Swiss polity.
• Yet this balancing of members of the Federal Council is less
a constitutional obligation than a tradition, and candidates
applying for a vacancy must satisfy several criteria relative to
the seat to be filled (e.g., political party, canton, language,
and gender).
4.2. A Collegial Government
Political Party
Canton
Language
Gender
Political Party
Canton
Language
Gender
Political Party
Canton
Language
Gender
PRESIDENT
OF THE SWISS
CONFEDERATION
IS « ONLY »
PRIMUS INTER PARES
Political Party
Canton
Language
Gender
Political Party
Canton
Language
Gender
Political Party
Canton
Language
Gender
Political Party
Canton
Language
Gender
How does Switzerland deal with religion ?
Human Rights + Federalism
Art. 8 Equality before the law
 1Everyone shall be equal before the law.
 2No one may be discriminated against, in particular on grounds of origin,
race, gender, age, language, social position, way of life, religious,
ideological, or political convictions, or because of a physical, mental or
psychological disability.
 3Men and women shall have equal rights. The law shall ensure their
equality, both in law and in practice, most particularly in the family, in
education, and in the workplace. Men and women shall have the right to
equal pay for work of equal value.
 4The law shall provide for the elimination of inequalities that affect
persons with disabilities.
Art. 15 Freedom of religion and conscience
 1Freedom of religion and conscience is guaranteed.
 2Everyone has the right to choose freely their religion or
their philosophical convictions, and to profess them alone or
in community with others.
 3Everyone has the right to join or to belong to a
religious community, and to follow religious teachings.
 4No one shall be forced to join or belong to a religious
community, to participate in a religious act, or to follow
religious teachings.
Art. 72 Church and State
 1 The regulation of the relationship between the
church and the state shall be the responsibility
of the Cantons.
 2 The Confederation and the Cantons may within
the scope of their powers take measures to
preserve public peace between the members of
different religious communities.
 3 ...
6. Swiss Federalism and Languages
 Art. 70 Languages
 1 The official languages of the Confederation shall be German, French and Italian.
Romansh shall also be an official language of the Confederation when
communicating with persons who speak Romansh.
 2 The Cantons shall decide on their official languages. In order to preserve harmony
between linguistic communities, the Cantons shall respect the traditional territorial
distribution of languages and take account of indigenous linguistic minorities.
 3 The Confederation and the Cantons shall encourage understanding and exchange
between the linguistic communities.
 4 The Confederation shall support the plurilingual Cantons in the fulfilment of their
special duties.
 5 The Confederation shall support measures by the Cantons of Graubünden and
Ticino to preserve and promote the Romansh and the Italian languages.
 English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is
provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.