Swiss Council of States
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The Council of States of Switzerland (German: Ständerat, French: Conseil des Etats, Italian: Consiglio degli Stati, Romansh: Cussegl dals Stadis) is the smaller chamber of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, and is considered the Assembly's upper house. There are 46 Councillors.
Twenty of the country's cantons send two Councillors each. The smaller cantons of Obwalden, Nidwalden, Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft, Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Appenzell Innerrhoden send one Councillor each. The latter six have traditionally been considered "half-cantons", because of their smaller size in area and in population, but in practice operate as full cantons.
The Councillors serve for four years, and are not bound in their vote to instructions from the Cantonal authorities. Under the Swiss Federal Constitution, the mode of election is left to the cantons, the proviso being that it must be a democratic method; however, all cantons now provide for the councillors to be chosen by popular election. In all Cantons except for Zug and Appenzell Innerrhoden, the Councillors are elected concurrently with the members of the National Council. In the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden the representatives are elected by the physically convened popular assembly (Landsgemeinde). With the exception of the Canton of Jura, where a proportional representation election system is used, the representatives are elected by majority vote.
There are currently (2008) 10 women in the Council of States (22%).
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[edit] List of members
- List of members of the Swiss Council of States
- List of members of the Swiss Council of States (2003-2007)
- List of Presidents of the Swiss Council of States
[edit] Seats by party
| Parties | Seats | 2003 |
|---|---|---|
| Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland (CVP/PDC) | 15 | 15 |
| Free Democratic Party of Switzerland (FDP/PRD) | 12 | 14 |
| Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (SPS/PSS) | 9 | 9 |
| Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC) | 7 | 8 |
| Green Party of Switzerland (GPS/PES) | 2 | 0 |
| Green Liberal Party of Switzerland (GLP/VL) | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 46 | 46 |
| Source: http://www.politik-stat.ch/srw2007CH_de.html | ||
[edit] Population per seat
The Council of States represents the principle of federalism of the Swiss constitutional state: seats are distributed by state (canton), not by population. Consequently, the number of people represented by a single seat in the Council of State varies by a factor of 40, from 15,000 for Appenzell Innerrhoden to 600,000 for Zurich.
| Abbr | Canton | Seats | Population ¹ | per seat | ² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ZH | Zurich | 2 | 1,228,600 | 614,300 | 1.0 |
| BE | Bern | 2 | 947,100 | 473,550 | 1.3 |
| VD | Vaud | 2 | 626,200 | 313,100 | 2.0 |
| AG | Aargau | 2 | 550,900 | 275,450 | 2.2 |
| BL | Basel-Landschaft | 1 | 261,400 | 261,400 | 2.4 |
| SG | St. Gallen | 2 | 452,600 | 226,300 | 2.7 |
| GE | Geneva | 2 | 414,300 | 207,150 | 3.0 |
| BS | Basel-Stadt | 1 | 186,700 | 186,700 | 3.3 |
| LU | Lucerne | 2 | 350,600 | 175,300 | 3.5 |
| TI | Ticino | 2 | 311,900 | 155,950 | 3.9 |
| VS | Valais | 2 | 278,200 | 139,100 | 4.4 |
| SO | Solothurn | 2 | 245,500 | 122,750 | 5.0 |
| FR | Fribourg | 2 | 239,100 | 119,550 | 5.1 |
| TG | Thurgau | 2 | 228,200 | 114,100 | 5.4 |
| GR | Graubünden | 2 | 185,700 | 92,850 | 6.6 |
| NE | Neuchâtel | 2 | 166,500 | 83,250 | 7.4 |
| SZ | Schwyz | 2 | 131,400 | 65,700 | 9.4 |
| AR | Appenzell Ausserrhoden | 1 | 53,200 | 53,200 | 11.5 |
| ZG | Zug | 2 | 100,900 | 50,450 | 12.2 |
| NW | Nidwalden | 1 | 38,600 | 38,600 | 15.9 |
| SH | Schaffhausen | 2 | 73,400 | 36,700 | 16.7 |
| JU | Jura | 2 | 69,100 | 34,550 | 17.8 |
| OW | Obwalden | 1 | 32,700 | 32,700 | 18.8 |
| GL | Glarus | 2 | 38,300 | 19,150 | 32.1 |
| UR | Uri | 2 | 35,000 | 17,500 | 35.1 |
| AI | Appenzell Innerrhoden | 1 | 15,000 | 15,000 | 41.0 |
| Overall | 46 | 7,261,200 | 157,852 | 3.9 | |
Notes: ¹ Population data from Cantons of Switzerland (2001). ² Relative representation compared to Zürich.
[edit] External links
