lected vice
president; percent of legislative vote --NA

Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Assembly or
Bundesversammlung (in German), Assemblee Federale (in French),
Assemblea Federale (in Italian) consists of the Council of States or
Standerat (in German), Conseil des Etats (in French), Consiglio
degli Stati (in Italian) (46 seats--members serve four-year terms)
and the National Council or Nationalrat (in German), Conseil
National (in French), Consiglio Nazionale (in Italian) (200
seats--members are elected by popular vote on a basis of proportional
representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: Council of States--last held throughout 1997 (each canton
determines when the next election will be held); National
Council--last held 20 October 1995 (next to be held probably 24
October 1999)
election results: Council of States--percent of vote by party--NA;
seats by party--FDP 17, CVP 16, SVP 5, SPS 5, LPS 2, LdU 1; National
Council--percent of vote by party--NA; seats by party--FDP 45, SPS 54,
CVP 34, SVP 29, Greens 9, LPS 7, FPS 7, LdU 3, EVP 2, SD 3, PdAdS 3,
Ticino League 1, EDU 1, FRAP 1, CSP 1

Judicial branch: Federal Supreme Court, judges elected for
six-year terms by the Federal Assembly

Political parties and leaders: Radical Free Democratic Party
(Freisinnig-Demokratische Partei der Schweiz or FDP, Parti
Radical-Democratique Suisse or PRD, Partitio Liberal-Radicale
Party (Sozialdemokratische Partei der Schweiz or SPS, Parti
Socialist Suisse or PSS, Partito Socialista Svizzero or PSS, Partida
Christian Democratic People's Party (Christichdemokratische
Volkspartei der Schweiz or CVP, Parti Democrate-Chretien Suisse or
PDC, Partito Democratico-Cristiano Popolare Svizzero or PDC, Partida
president]; Swiss People's Party (Schweizerische Volkspartei or SVP,
Union Democratique du Centre or UDC, Unione Democratica de Centro or
Green Party (Grune Partei der Schweiz or Grune, Parti Ecologiste
Suisse or Les Verts, Partito Ecologista Svizzero or I Verdi, Partida
(Landesring der Unabhaengigen or LdU, Alliance des Independants or
Party (Schweizer Demokraten or SD, Democrates Suisses or DS,
Democratici Svizzeri or DS), Liberal Party (Liberale Partei der
Schweiz or LPS, Parti Liberal Suisse or PLS, Partito Liberale
Svizzero or PLS), Workers' Party (Parti Suisse du Travail or PST,
Partei der Arbeit der Schweiz or PdAdS, Partito Svizzero del Lavor