The Organization of Federal Administration in Switzerland
| DOI | 10.1177/002085237904500309 |
| Date | 01 September 1979 |
| Author | P. Moor |
| Published date | 01 September 1979 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
i
Summaries
of
Articles
published
in
French
and
Spanish
The
Organization
of
Federal
Administration
in
Switzerland
P.
MOOR
On
19
September
1978,
the
Federal
Assem-
bly
adopted
a
Federal
Council
and
Federal
Administration
(Organization
and
Manage-
ment)
Act,
which
came
into
force
on
9
May
1979.
Previous
legislation
dating
back
to
1914
and
introduced
after
very
long
preliminary
work
was
rescinded.
The
Act
attempts
to
solve
a
number
of
organizational
and
structural
problems
which
had
been
evident
on
the
gov-
ernmental
as
well
as
the
administrative
level,
chiefly
the
overburdening
of
departments
and
the
difficulties
of
interagency
coordination.
It
has
been
limited
by
the
political
and
constitu-
tional
context,
which
is
outlined
here.
Since
the
Constitution
of
1848,
the
Con-
federation’s
supreme
directing
and
executive
authority
has
been
exercised
by
a
Federal
Council
of
seven
members.
They
are
the
only
ministers
in
the
Government
and
their
Departments
deal
with
all
the
affairs
of
the
Federal
State.
As
the
Council
is
a
college,
there
is
neither
chief
of
State
nor
prime
minister.
The
President
of
the
Confederation,
elected
each year
by
Parliament
from
among
the
Federal
Councillors,
only
has
representative
functions
and
remains
in
charge
of
his
Depart-
ment.
Since
1920,
the
election
has
been
by
rotation
and
seniority.
Federal
Councillors
are
elected
for
four
years
and
are
usually
re-
elected.
On
several
occasions,
it
has
been
proposed
that
their
number
should
be
in-
creased
to
nine
or
even
twelve,
but
any
such
proposals
have
been
rejected
because
they
would
have
compromised
a
tried
and
tested
arrangement
and
a
sensible
balance,
while
making
the
collegial
system
unwieldy.
The
Act
has
generally
kept
to
the
principles
adopted
in
1848,
without
drastic
changes.
It
divides
the
work
among
the
seven
Depart-
ments
simply
by
naming
them
and
ensuring
that
they
are
of
roughly
equal
importance.
Business
is
dealt
with
by
&dquo;
administrative
units &dquo;
or
Offices
subordinate
to
the
Depart-
ments.
They
are
all
necessarily
listed
in
the
Act
because
an
office,
or
even
a
decentralized
agency,
may
only
be
established
by
a
law.
It
is,
however,
the
Federal
Council
which
determines
the
distribution
of
the
offices
among
the
departments.
The
Government
and
the
Administration
are
so
organized
that
each
federal
councillor
has
to
manage
his
department,
to
deal
with
the
administrative
cases
within
the
competence
of
the
Federal
Council,
particularly
when
ap-
peals
are
made
to
it,
and
to
participate
in
the
preparation
of
government
policy.
In
practice,
the
first
of
those
activities
takes
up
most
time,
while
the
third
is
practically
neglected,
which
is
regrettable.
In
spite
of
an
attempt
at
in-
novation
in
1970,
the
definition,
coordination,
and
planning
of
the
policies
of
the
depart-
ments,
which
is
the
essence
of
a
government
policy,
left
much
to
be
desired.
One
of the
purposes
of
the
Act
was
to
remedy
the
situation,
and
the
solution
adopted,
on
the
basis
of
expert
reports
which
were
realistic
though
considered
by
some
to
be
too
narrow
in
scope,
is
conservative.
The
change
essentially
consists
in
the
generalization
and
development
of
&dquo;
Staffs
&dquo;
attached
to
the
Federal
Council
as
well
as
to
the
departments.
The
Staffs
will
look
after
the
planning,
coor-
dination,
and
supervision
of the
work
of the
Offices.
On
the
departmental
level,
they
will
carry
out
certain
administrative
tasks
and
assist
the
councillors
in
their
governmental
activity.
The
general
secretariat
of
the
Council
will
be
entrusted
to
the
Chancery
which
helps
the
President
in
carrying
out
his
responsibilities
with
regard
to
the
Administration’s
work.
Another
new
feature
of
the
Act
is
the
general
use
by
the
councillors
of
personal
assistants
who
will
not
be
civil
servants
and
will
have
no
administrative
functions.
The
results
are
therefore
unspectacular,
which
is
explained
by
the
Swiss
system
based
on
balances
and
federalism.
The
Administra-
tion
only
comprises
about
35,000
civil
servants,
if
the
posts,
telegraphs,
and
railways
are
ex-
cluded,
and
can
still
be
managed
on
old-
fashioned
lines.
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