Citizens of Switzerland can change their government demo-cratically. The constitution of 1848, significantly revised in 1874 and 2000, provides for two directly elected legislative chambers-the Council of States (in which each canton has two members and each half-canton, one) and the National Council, with 200 members serving four-year terms.

The Federal Council (cabinet) is a seven-person executive; the presidency is ceremonial and rotates annually among the Federal Council's members. Collegiality and consensus are hallmarks of Swiss political culture.

The Swiss institutional system is characterized by decentralization and direct democracy. The cantons and half-cantons have control over much of economic and social policy, with the federal government's powers largely limited to foreign affairs and some economic policy. The rights of cultural, religious, and linguistic minorities are strongly protected. Referendums are also a common feature; any measure that modifies the constitution must be put to a referendum. Any new or revised law must be put to a referendum if 50,000 signatures in favor of doing so can be gathered, and voters may even initiate legislation themselves with 100,000 signatures.

The main parties are the center-left SP, the right-wing FDP, the right-wing populist SVP, and the center-right CVP.

The government is free from pervasive corruption. However, the country has traditionally drawn criticism for its banking-secrecy laws, which financial watchdogs claim enable money laundering and other crimes. In the International Monetary Fund's 2004 report on its annual consultation with Switzerland, the fund praised Switzerland for toughening laws on money laundering and terrorist financing in 2003. Switzerland was ranked 7 out of 159 countries surveyed in Transparency International's 2005 Corruption Perceptions Index.

Freedom of expression is guaranteed by the constitution. Switzerland has a free media environment, although the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation dominates the broadcast market. The penal code prohibits racist or anti-Semitic speech. Consolidation of newspapers in large media conglomerates has forced the closure of some small and local newspapers. Internet access is unrestricted.

Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the constitution, and most cantons support one or several churches. The country is split roughly between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, although there are now officially more than 300,000 Muslims (and perhaps many more undocumented), forming the largest non-Christian minority in Switzerland. Religion is taught in public schools, depending on the predominant creed in the canton. Students are free to choose their creed of instruction or opt out of religious instruction. In 2001, a cantonal court ruled that the Church of Scientology could not be a "real church" because it does not advocate belief in God. Scientologists face other legal obstacles, such as difficulty establishing private schools. Academic freedom is respected.

Freedom of assembly and association is respected in practice, and civil society is especially active in Switzerland. The right to collective bargaining is respected, and approximately one-third of the workforce is unionized.

The judiciary is independent, and the rule of law prevails in civil and criminal matters. Most judicial decisions are made at the cantonal level except for the federal Supreme Court, which reviews cantonal court decisions when they pertain to federal law. Refusal to perform military service is a criminal offense for males. Prison conditions are generally acceptable.

Women were only granted universal suffrage at the federal level in 1971, and the half-canton Appenzell-Innerrhoden denied women the vote until 1990. Abortion laws were liberalized to decriminalize abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy following a referendum in 2002, which 72 percent of voters supported. The law gives women 10 weeks of maternity leave but no salary guarantee. The Swiss constitution guarantees equal pay to men and women for work of equal value, but pay differentials remain as a result of general inequality. The national council has 52 women among its 200 members, which is above the European average.