The Canton of St.Gallen is a member State of Switzerland with a population of approximately 60,000 and an area of about 2,000 km2. It is organised according to the traditional separation of powers model. Direct democracy is exercised by means of suffrage, but in particular by means of the voting rights which extend to parliamentary matters. Furthermore, citizens can use initiatives to have a vote organised on their own administrative and legislative proposals.
Legislature: Cantonal Council
The Cantonal Council is a “Militia Parliament” (its members have other professions) and forms the legislative body of the Canton of St.Gallen. It is elected every four years using the proportional representation method and is comprised of 180 members. In each year the Cantonal Council meets for 5 sessions, each of which lasts between 2 and 3 days. The sessions are held in the Government Building in the City of St.Gallen, the canton’s capital. 6 political parties are represented in the Cantonal Council; it members are organised into 5 factions. It decides upon administrative and legislative changes and exercises supervisory powers over the government, the administration and the justice. It elects various public officers and fosters relations with the other Cantons and neighbouring foreign territories.
During 10 to 15 days of session in every year, the Cantonal Council attends to approximately 200 items of legislation, sometimes repeatedly as well as in various procedural stages. Before being heard in plenum, most legislative matters will be discussed in detail by the various commissions. 4 permanent commissions are appointed for a period of 4 years and regularly deal with similar types of matters, whereas up to 15 other commissions are temporarily appointed each year depending on the particular issue of legislative business. The Administration, and the State Chancellery (Staatskanzlei) or the particular Department in particular, is responsible for controlling these permanent and non-permanent commissions. These offices manage the flow of information, ensure the distribution of documentation and organise the meetings.
Executive: Government
The Government forms the Executive of the Canton of St.Gallen. It consists of 7 persons each of which is responsible for one Department. The Government is elected by the majority choice procedure for a period of 4 years. It has at its disposal the Secretary of State who, at the same time, is head of the State Chancellery. During some 50 meetings held annually the Government deals with approximately 1,000 legislative matters, which are prepared by the Departments and executed in law upon being passed. The Cantonal Council also deals with some governmental business; the large majority of Cantonal legislative items have their origin in governmental legislation.
State Chancellery
It is a peculiarity of St.Gallen that the State Chancellery provides official services on behalf of both the Cantonal Council (Legislature) and the Government (Executive). It manages both the legislative business data and the personal information, the associated documentation as well as the corresponding processes. The State Chancellery, in this function, forms the link between the Cantonal Council, Government, Departments and citizens and residents. Furthermore it is responsible for public relations and administers the internet presence of the Government and the Cantonal Council (www.sg.ch). Alongside this, the State Chancellery is the issuer of official publications and is responsible for other central administrative functions.
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