magic formula (Swiss party power-sharing)
E759495
The magic formula is Switzerland’s long-standing informal arrangement that allocates seats in the Federal Council among major political parties to ensure broad power-sharing and political stability.
Statements (46)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
consociational mechanism
ⓘ
informal power-sharing arrangement ⓘ |
| aimsTo |
prevent dominance by a single party
ⓘ
reflect linguistic and regional diversity ⓘ |
| appliesTo | Federal Council of Switzerland NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| appliesToBodyType |
collective head of state
ⓘ
federal executive ⓘ |
| appliesToInstitutionType | federal-level executive only ⓘ |
| associatedWith |
multi-party system in Switzerland
ⓘ
proportional representation in the Federal Assembly ⓘ |
| basedOn |
party vote shares and parliamentary representation
ⓘ
relative strength of parties in the Federal Assembly ⓘ |
| changedOverTime | yes ⓘ |
| characteristic |
informal agreement
ⓘ
long-standing practice ⓘ not codified in the Swiss Constitution ⓘ |
| contributesTo |
low government turnover
ⓘ
policy continuity in Switzerland ⓘ |
| country | Switzerland ⓘ |
| criticizedFor |
slowness of political change
ⓘ
underrepresentation of emerging parties ⓘ |
| decisionMakingEffect |
encourages compromise among parties
ⓘ
reduces likelihood of abrupt policy reversals ⓘ |
| doesNotCover |
cantonal governments
ⓘ
municipal governments ⓘ |
| governs | allocation of seats in the Federal Council ⓘ |
| influences | composition of the Swiss federal government ⓘ |
| introducedInYear | 1959 ⓘ |
| legalStatus |
political convention
ⓘ
unwritten rule ⓘ |
| notableChange |
increased representation of Swiss People’s Party (SVP) after electoral gains
ⓘ
reduction of Christian Democratic People’s Party (CVP) representation over time ⓘ |
| originalFormulaRatio | 2–2–2–1 ⓘ |
| originalSeatDistribution |
1 seat Swiss People’s Party (SVP)
ⓘ
2 seats Christian Democratic People’s Party (CVP) ⓘ 2 seats Free Democratic Party (FDP) ⓘ 2 seats Social Democratic Party (SP) ⓘ |
| politicalSystemContext | Swiss consensus democracy NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| purpose |
broad power-sharing among major political parties
ⓘ
inclusion of major political forces in government ⓘ political stability ⓘ |
| relatedConcept |
consociational democracy
ⓘ
grand coalition NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| selectionMethod | Federal Councillors elected by the United Federal Assembly ⓘ |
| timePeriod | second half of the 20th century onward ⓘ |
| totalSeatsCovered | 7 ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.