The Characteristics of Public Administration in Switzerland

Abstract

This chapter is devoted to the characteristics of the Swiss administrations at all three levels, the Confederation, the cantons, and the cities or communities. It addresses the composition of the public sector through the legal forms its employees work under. The highest number of public administration employees is found at the cantonal level, followed by employees in entities under public law. The chapter also shows how the administrations at all three levels are organized and addresses uniquely Swiss characteristics, including that hardly any civil servants have permanent employment status, the dependence on non-professional and part-time politicians and experts, and how multilingualism is handled. It ends by comparing the Swiss administrative system to other administrative traditions and concludes that Switzerland has opted for a hybrid solution.