I’m not very political but it seems like these days there’s no escaping the political turmoil. If it’s not one country then it’s another. So what better time to look at it than the present? Don’t worry though, I’m just going to more or less just compare the American and Swiss systems.
Similar Political Systems
In 1848 Switzerland was trying to define their government. They glanced at what was going on in the world and saw how the United States set up their government. Because of that, both systems have a lot in common.
Both are federal governments, meaning they are govern by an elected government, not by kings or queens. In both countries the legislative power is vested in two chambers. The States calls them the Senate and the House of Representatives. Switzerland calls them the Council of States and the National Council. Like the States, Switzerland also has a Federal Supreme Court that looks after the judicial branch. The difference being there are not only 9, but 38 justices on the bench in Switzerland. Another difference is they are not elected for life. In Switzerland a justice is elected for 6 years and can be reelected an unlimited number of times. That is, until they are 68.
The Political Parties
Of course there are a number of differences in the two systems. One being the number of political parties. The system in the States is dominated by a two-party system. In fact, one of these two parties has won every presidential election since 1852. The two parties are Democrats and Republicans.
The parties can also be seen as a direction: left and right. The more left a party is, then the more liberal. Right is conceived as conservative. The Democratic Party sees themselves as liberal, promoting social justice and mixed economy; left. The Republican Party supports a conservative platform; right. They tend to support Christian values and are pro-business and anti-labor. Of course there are other smaller parties but the two party system is pretty well cemented in the American society.
Naturally Switzerland has parties similar to the Democratic and Republican parties. The Swiss party most similar to the Republican Party would be ‘Swiss People’s Party’ (SVP/UDC, ah, the Swiss love abbreviations). The party closest to the Democrats would be Social Democratic Party (SP/PSS). There are more than one center-right, center and left wing along with other right wing parties. No matter what your views, there seems to be a party for everyone. At one point there was even an ultra right party called the Car Party. Guess what their main agenda was. Believe it or not, in 1991 they had 8 seats in the National Council. They’re still around but have changed their name and they are not quite as popular as then.
The President
Then, of course, both the States and Switzerland have a president. Exactly how the president is elected in the States is a bit complicated. It’s a combination of state-based votes (electoral) and population-based votes. Which means that the person who didn’t get the most population-based votes may win an election. This has happened 5 times in the past, George W. Bush and Donald Trump being the last two.
In Switzerland seven equal power-sharing Federal Councilors hold the executive power. Each year one of them becomes ‘the first among equals’ which is the president. These Federal Councilors are elected solely by the Federal Assembly. The Federal Councilors aren’t allowed to hold any political positions in their party. This is because quite often they have to advocate a position that isn’t necessarily in the interest of their party. This tones down most differences and somehow adds to the Swiss neutrality. That is, usually, but not always there has been the occasional maverick who immerges from stage right.
Which parties get represented in the Federal Council is determined by what’s called the ‘magic formula’. Each of the three strongest parties get two representatives and the fourth strongest gets one. Amazingly enough this is not a law but an agreement. Once elected to the Federal Council the person gets to remain there as long as they want. Well, as long as they are reelected by the Federal Assembly every four years.
Bad Politicians
Politics are quite often as complex as they are simple. After all, we are dealing with people who have different motivation factors. Many, but luckily not all, are motivated by the power politics gives you. The following example is something that happened in Germany. I can’t imagine anything like this happening in Switzerland, but you never know.
A couple of weeks ago some lawyers were looking into jailing some politicians for not doing their jobs. After years of continuous air pollution in their city the politicians weren’t enforcing any sanctions to lower the pollution levels. They said that people needed their cars to be mobile. They wouldn’t enforce any restrictions on traffic. Then came city fines, which they paid. Which was silly because one department paid the fine to another department in the same city. It seemed like nothing could motivate the politicians to do anything about the problem. Maybe making them personally responsible for their actions or non-actions will help. A wake-up call in jail. Sort of a novel idea. When you hear stories like this you have to ask yourself what do politicians actually do all day.
Good Politicians
On the other hand, I have a Swiss friend who started getting active politically a couple of years ago. Having been a teacher and worked in several large companies she had a wide knowledge base. She enjoyed making a difference in her community. Surprisingly to me, at one point, at the local community level, she was seriously contemplating quitting. She said it was all about elbowing your way into the next best position which wasn’t her thing. It made me stop and think how gnawing politics must be at any level. Thankfully she rethought it and for the good of the community she has stuck with it. She saw that fighting for what one believes in is better than quitting just because it’s difficult. I’m glad there are people like her. That’s the kind of politician I think is cool.
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