Congress Federal Assembly The Chambers
_ Senate State Council Senate_
Two members from Two members from 300 members elected
  each state each canton by an electoral college
  Six years in each department

House of National Council Chamber of Deputies Representatives 433 members elected 147 members elected 591 deputies elected
  by people by people by people
Two years Three years Four years

President President President
Elected by electors, Elected by Federal Elected by National i.e., by the Assembly Assembly; i.e.
people of the States One year Senate and Chamber
  Four years of Deputies in joint
          
                                         session
                                                  Seven years

Cabinet                Federal Council           Ministry
Nine members appointed     Seven members      Twelve members appointed
by President             elected by Federal      by President
and Senate                 Assembly

Constitutional Monarchies—­Monarchies are classified as (1) constitutional and (2) absolute.  In constitutional monarchies the ruler holds his position by heredity, but there exists also a constitution, which defines the distribution of powers among the branches that compose the government and fixes the limits of authority vested in each.  The British constitution is partly written, as found in the great historical documents of English history, such as Magna Charta (1215), the Petition of Right (1628), and the Bill of Rights (1689);[63] and partly unwritten, consisting of precedents and customs which are recognized as authoritative.  The constitutions of the other monarchies of Europe were made during the nineteenth century, and consequently they are younger than that of the United States.

[Footnote 63:  Compare the “Bill of Rights” in our Constitution; see pp. 256-260.]

In all the constitutional monarchies we find legislative bodies similar to our Congress.  In every case the lower house is elected by the voters;[64] in England, the Austrian Empire, Italy, and Spain a number of the members of the upper house hold their position by hereditary right.  In respect to legislation, therefore, the constitutional monarchies are all more or less republican in principle; that is, they all recognize the supreme authority of the people acting through their representatives.

[Footnote 64:  Property qualifications for suffrage are common in European countries.]

An absolute monarchy is one in which the authority of the ruler is not held in check by a constitution or by a body of men elected by the people.  No civilized country now has this form of government.  Until recently there existed in Europe two absolute monarchies—­Russia and Turkey.