The Swiss Confederation, desiring to confirm the alliance of the confederates, to maintain and to promote the unity, strength, and honor of the Swiss nation, has adopted the Federal Constitution, following:
Article I.—The peoples of the twenty-two sovereign Cantons of Switzerland, united by this present alliance [then follow the names of the Cantons], form in their entirety the Swiss Confederation.
Article II.—The purpose of the Confederation is to secure the independence of the country against foreign nations, to maintain peace and order within, to protect the liberty and rights of the confederates, and to foster their common welfare.
The Constitution is divided into three chapters, embracing, respectively, seventy, forty-seven, and four articles, numbered consecutively throughout the whole. The chapters have subdivisions, with descriptive titles to the general heads.
The first chapter is titled General Provisions, and covers a wide field.
A literal transcript of the most important provisions of this chapter will be given.
CHAPTER I.
The Cantons are sovereign so far as their sovereignty is not limited by the Federal Constitution, and as such they exercise all the rights which are not delegated to the Federal government. All Swiss are equal before the law, with neither political dependence, nor privilege of place, birth, persons, or families. The Confederation guarantees to the Cantons their territory, their sovereignty (within the limits fixed), their Constitutions, the liberty and rights of the people, the constitutional rights of citizens, and the rights and powers which the people have conferred on those in authority. The Cantons are bound to ask of the Confederation the guarantee of their Constitutions: this is accorded, provided,—
(a) That the Constitutions contain nothing contrary to the provisions of the Federal Constitution.
(b) That they assure the exercise of political rights according to republican forms, representative or democratic.