The ‘magic formula’ of Switzerland’s direct democracy

How many seats are there in the Swiss government, the Federal Council? The answer is seven. But how does Switzerland do the maths to divide that figure among the political parties? Is it 2+2+2+1, or 3+2+2? And why does it matter?

When modern Switzerland was founded in 1848, the Swiss government consisted entirely of members from one party. It would take half a century for all major parties to be represented in government and to better reflect the political forces in parliament. In 1959, these four largest parties agreed that government posts should from then on be distributed among them according to a ratio that reflects their strengths in parliament.

This so-called magic formula is part of Switzerland’s consensus democracy and is based on the belief that decisions are lasting only if they are supported by the minority as well as the majority.

For many years, the government power-sharing set-up remained the same. It was only in 2003 that the equation began to change, when the party with just one seat, the Swiss People’s Party, received the most votes in parliamentary elections for the second time.