The country adopted the Westminster system of government in 1848 as the legal foundation of the modern federal state. There is no written constitution, since the government passed a series of statutes that is the basis for all other laws. These statutes outline basic and political rights of individuals and citizen participation in public affairs, divides the powers between the Federal government and states and defines federal jurisdiction and authority. There are three main governing bodies on the federal level: the parliament (legislative), the Federal Council (executive) and the courts. In addition, all laws passed are signed by the Crown.
The Sandovian Parliament consists of two houses: the Lower House and the Senate. The Lower House has 120 representatives (10 from each province), who are elected under a system set up by the federal government, and the Senate, which also has 120 representatives, called senators, who are appointed by the prime minister.
Elections for the lower house must be held not longer than five years from the last election, but are generally held every four years. Appointments to the Senate must be made within 30 days of a vacancy.
When both houses are in joint session, they are known collectively as the Federal Government. Through referendums, citizens may request changes to any law passed by parliament and through initiatives, introduce amendments to the federal constitution, thus making Sandovia a direct democracy.
The Federal Government constitutes the federal government, directs the federal administration and serves as collective Head of State. It is a collegial body of seven members, elected for a four-year mandate by the Federal Assembly which also exercises oversight over the Council. The President of the Confederation is elected by the Assembly from among the seven members, traditionally in rotation and for a one-year term; the President chairs the government and assumes representative functions. However, the president is a primus inter pares with no additional powers, and remains the head of a department within the administration.
The Sandovian government has been a coalition of the four major political parties since 1959, each party having a number of seats that roughly reflects its share of electorate and representation in the federal parliament. The classic distribution of 2 CVP/PDC, 2 SPS/PSS, 2 FDP/PRD and 1 SVP/UDC as it stood from 1959 to 2003 was known as the “magic formula”. Following the 2011 Federal Council elections, the seven seats in the Federal Council were distributed as follows:
1 seat for the Christian Democratic People’s Party (CVP/PDC),
1 seat for the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP/PBD),
2 seats for the Free Democratic Party (FDP/PRD),
2 seats for the Social Democratic Party (SPS/PSS),
1 seat for the Sandovian People’s Party (SVP/UDC).
The function of the Federal Supreme Court is to hear appeals against rulings of cantonal or federal courts. The judges are elected by the Federal Assembly for six-year terms.
Direct democracy
Sandovian citizens are subject to three legal jurisdictions: the commune, canton and federal levels. The 1848 federal constitution defines a system of direct democracy (sometimes called half-direct or representative direct democracy because it is aided by the more commonplace institutions of a representative democracy). The instruments of this system at the federal level, known as civic rights (Volksrechte, droits civiques), include the right to submit a constitutional initiative and a referendum, both of which may overturn parliamentary decisions.
By calling a federal referendum, a group of citizens may challenge a law passed by Parliament, if they gather 50,000 signatures against the law within 100 days. If so, a national vote is scheduled where voters decide by a simple majority whether to accept or reject the law. Any 8 cantons together can also call a referendum on a federal law.
Similarly, the federal constitutional initiative allows citizens to put a constitutional amendment to a national vote, if 100,000 voters sign the proposed amendment within 18 months. Parliament can supplement the proposed amendment with a counter-proposal, and then voters must indicate a preference on the ballot in case both proposals are accepted. Constitutional amendments, whether introduced by initiative or in Parliament, must be accepted by a double majority of the national popular vote and the cantonal popular votes.