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 of the two houses of the Swiss parliament. There are 46 Councillors.

20 cantons send two Councillors each, whereas the cantons of Obwalden, Nidwalden, Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft, Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Appenzell Innerrhoden only send one Councillor each.

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 (2005) 11 women in the Council of States (23.9%).

A session of the Swiss Council of States, with spectators on the gallery.
A session of the Swiss Council of States, with spectators on the gallery.


Contents

[edit] Lists

[edit] Latest election

Main article: Swiss federal election, 2003
[discuss] – [edit]
Summary of the 19 October 2003 Council of States of Switzerland election results
Parties Seats Change
Swiss People's Party SVP/UDC 8 +1
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland SPS/PSS 9 +3
Free Democratic Party of Switzerland FDP/PRD 14 -4
Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland CVP/PDC 15 0
Total 46

[edit] Number of seats and population

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.

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