| Current Government: |
Head of State – President of the Swiss Confederation Didier Burkhalter (since 1 January 2014)
President and vice president elected by the Federal Assembly from among the members of the Federal Council.
The Federal Council - seven federal councillors - constitutes the government of Switzerland; council members rotate in one-year terms as federal President. |
| Constitution: Confederation (federal republic of 26 cantons) |
Two chamber parliament - the Federal Assembly Bundesversammlung (in German), Assemblée Federale (in French), Assemblea Federale (in Italian)
* the Council of States (46 seats, made up of 2 representatives from each canton and 1 from each half canton; members serve four-year terms)
* the National Council (200 seats; members elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms) |
| Democracy: Women were first given the right to vote in some cantons in 1959, and in the last canton only in 1990. |
Relations with the European Union: Switzerland has traditionally avoided supranational organisations. It was a founding member of the European Free Trade Area (EFTA), but in a referendum rejected membership of the European Economic Area (EEA). An application in 1992 for EU membership has been frozen after a mixed response from the population. In 2005 Swiss voters agreed by a 55% majority to join the Schengen treaty. |
