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List of cantonal executives of Switzerland

This article lists the cantonal executives of Switzerland. Each canton of Switzerland has its own executive body, as well as legislative body. The Federal Council is the executive of the Swiss federal government, and is included for purposes of comparison.

The cantonal executives are collegial bodies, each with 5 or 7 members. They are generally called Regierungsrat (Executive Council) in German-speaking cantons and Conseil d'État (State Council) in French-speaking cantons.

General structure

Presidents of the executives

The above mentioned collegial bodies are formally chaired by a president. However those presidents are primus inter pares, that is a first among equals in the council; other than presiding over meetings and the ability to cast tie-breaking votes, the president only holds ceremonial powers.

In the list below, unless otherwise noted, the official name of the office of president of the respective cantonal executive is Regierungsratspräsident (Government council president).

Elections

The cantonal governments are directly elected every four years. In some cantons (e.g. Basel-Stadt), the voters can cast a presidential vote for a candidate they are already voting for as member of the government. The elected member who has also received the most votes for president takes that office for the entirety of their term on the council, i.e. 4 years. In other cantons the electorate only elects the council members, and the presidency rotates according to seniority among members (e.g. Zürich and also in the federal council).

The date of the elections is not the same as the date of the start of the tenure. For example, the elections in Aargau were held in 2020, but the tenure of the new Executive started on 1 January 2021.