Legislative Branch
Switzerland has a bicameral parliament called the Federal Assembly, made up of:
- the Council of States (46 seats - members serve four-year terms) and
- the National Council (members are elected by popular vote on a basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
The previous elections (before those held in 2007, below) to the National Council were held in 2003, see elections of 2003 for more details. The four parties that hold seats in the Federal Council dominate both chambers of the Assembly; they currently hold a supermajority of 171 seats (out of 200) on the National Council, plus every seat in the Council of States except for 3.
Most hearings in the parliament are open to everyone, including foreigners.
Read more about this topic: Politics Of Switzerland
Famous quotes containing the words legislative and/or branch:
“However much we may differ in the choice of the measures which should guide the administration of the government, there can be but little doubt in the minds of those who are really friendly to the republican features of our system that one of its most important securities consists in the separation of the legislative and executive powers at the same time that each is acknowledged to be supreme, in the will of the people constitutionally expressed.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)
“That man’s the true Conservative
Who lops the mouldered branch away.”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)