This is a list of political parties in Switzerland.

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

has a

multi-party system In political science, a multi-party system is a political system where more than two meaningfully-distinct political parties regularly run for office and win elections. Multi-party systems tend to be more common in countries using proportional ...

. Since 1959, the four largest

parties A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

have formed a

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

, according to a ' or " magic formula". This arithmetic formula divides the seven cabinet seats among representatives of the four largest parties.

Pierre Cormon Pierre Cormon, born 1965 in Ambilly, France, is a Swiss writer and has published books in French, Brazilian Portuguese and English, including ''Swiss Politics for Complete Beginners''.Le Temps See Biography He began his career as a journalist ...

,
Swiss Politics for Complete Beginners
', Editions Slatkine, 2014, , p. 31–32

Political parties in Switzerland

Federal and cantonal parliaments

The following parties are represented in the

Swiss Federal Assembly The Federal Assembly, also known as the Swiss Parliament, is the federal bicameral parliament of Switzerland. It comprises the 200-seat National Council and the 46-seat Council of States. It meets in Bern in the Federal Palace. The house ...

or cantonal parliaments and executive councils as of 2024. For their names in the four national languages of Switzerland, see #Names in the national languages below. For more detailed information on the political positions of some of the parties listed below, see here: For Swiss political party strength on the municipal level, see here:

Minor parties

The following groups or parties are not represented at either the cantonal or national level (but may hold positions in municipal parliaments).

Historical parties

Names in the national languages

Sources: The Swiss Federal Chancellery

Relative importance

At the federal level

File:Swiss_National_Council_seat_share_by_party.svg, Composition of the National Council by political party, 1919–2023 File:Sitzverteilung Bundesrat.png, Composition of the

Federal Council Federal Council may refer to: Governmental bodies * Federal Council of Australasia, a forerunner to the current Commonwealth of Australia * Federal Council of Austria, the upper house of the Austrian federal parliament * Federal Council of German ...

by political party, 1919–2017

Overall

Notes

References

Bibliography

,
Swiss Politics for Complete Beginners
', Editions Slatkine, 2014.

External links

{{Portal bar, Politics, Switzerland

Politics of Switzerland

Political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...