Federal Chancellor of Switzerland

Federal Chancellor of Switzerland
Incumbent Corina Casanova since 1 January 2008
Residence	Federal Palace
Inaugural holder	Jean Marc Samuel Isaac Mousson
Formation	1803
Website	Chancellor of Switzerland

Switzerland

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Switzerland

Constitution Human rights Federal Council List of members Micheline Calmy-Rey (Pres. 11) Doris Leuthard Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf (VP 11) Ueli Maurer Didier Burkhalter Simonetta Sommaruga Johann Schneider-Ammann Federal Chancellor Corina Casanova Federal administration Federal Assembly Council of States List of members National Council List of members Political parties Elections Voting in Switzerland 2003 2007 2011 Federal courts Federal Supreme Court Federal Criminal Court Federal Administrative Court Foreign relations Switzerland and the European Union Subdivisions Cantons Municipalities

Other countries · Atlas Politics portal view · talk · edit

The Federal Chancellor (German: Bundeskanzler(in); French: Chancelier(-ière) fédéral(e); Italian: Cancelliere(-a) della Confederazione; Romansh: Chancelier(a) federal(a)) is the head of the Federal Chancellery of Switzerland, which acts as the general staff of the seven-member Federal Council. The Swiss Chancellor is not a member of the government, and his or her position is not comparable to that of the Chancellor of Germany or Austria.

The Federal Chancellor is elected for a four-year term by the Federal Assembly, assembled together as the United Federal Assembly, at the same time as they elect the Federal Council. The current Chancellor, Corina Casanova, a member of the Christian Democratic People's Party from Graubünden, was elected on 12 December 2007 to begin her term on 1 January 2008.

Appointment mechanism

Although the chancellor only has a technocratic role, the position is a political appointment made by a vote of both houses of the Federal Assembly, sitting together as the United Federal Assembly, for a term of four years.

One or two Vice-Chancellors (before 1852 this position was called the State Secretary of the Confederation) are also appointed; in contrast to the chancellor, their appointment is made directly by the Federal Council.

The chancellor's role

The chancellor attends meetings of the Federal Council (although he or she does not have a vote), and prepares the Federal Council's reports to the Federal Assembly on its policy and activities. Nonetheless, his or her influential position is often referred to as that of an 'eighth Federal Councillor'. The chancellery is also responsible for the publication of all federal laws.

List of Federal Chancellors

#	From-To	Name		Born-Died	Party		Canton
1	1803–1830	Jean Marc Samuel Isaac Mousson		1776–1861			Vaud
2	1830–1847	Karl Nikolaus von Flüe AmRhyn		1800–1849			Lucerne
3	1848–1881	Johann Ulrich Schiess		1813–1883			Appenzell Ausserrhoden
4	1882–1909	Gottlieb Ringier		1837–1929			Aargau
5	1910–1918	Hans Schatzmann		1848–1923		Free Democratic Party	Aargau
6	1919–1925	Adolf von Steiger		1859–1925		Free Democratic Party	Bern
7	1925–1934	Robert Käslin		1871–1934		Free Democratic Party	Nidwalden
8	1934–1943	George Bovet		1874–1946		Free Democratic Party	Neuchâtel
9	1944–1951	Oskar Leimgruber		1886–1976		Christian Democratic People's Party	Fribourg
10	1951–1967	Charles Oser		1902–1994		Free Democratic Party	Basel-City
11	1968–1981	Karl Huber		1915–2002		Christian Democratic People's Party	St. Gallen
12	1981–1991	Walter Buser		1926–		Social Democratic Party	Basel-Landschaft
13	1991–1999	François Couchepin		1935–		Free Democratic Party	Valais
14	2000–2007	Annemarie Huber-Hotz		1948–		Free Democratic Party	Zug
15	2008–	Corina Casanova		1956–		Christian Democratic People's Party	Graubünden

See also

• Politics of Switzerland
• List of Presidents of the Swiss Confederation
• List of members of the Swiss Federal Council
• Lists of office-holders

References

• Federal Chancellor of Switzerland in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
• Hans-Urs Willi. "The Chancellor: a few historical highlights on the development of their person and the office from ancient times to the Middle Ages and the Zenden Republic of Valais". In Klaus, Michel (editor): Quelle chance pour nos institutions? Mélanges offerts à Monsieur François Couchepin, chancelier de la Confédération à l'occasion de son 60e anniversaire / Festschrift für Bundeskanzler François Couchepin zum 60. Geburtstag. Schlieren 1995. Translated by Paul Suffrin and Elsbeth Hagan.

External links

• Official web site of the Federal Chancellery
• A Walk through the History of the Federal Chancellery, in German, French and Italian, on the web site of the Federal Chancellery