Zurich administration is supervised by the City Council and the District council of the city. The Swiss political system follows the principal of building the administrative blocks from the bottom, thus, the city governments act as foundations in Zurich government. The various duties of the Swiss government are distributed among the three levels of Swiss authorities, namely the confederation, cantons and communes. These Swiss authorities are regulated by federal, cantonal and communal constitutions and laws respectively. From the perspective of administration, Zürich is a canton.
Local Government of Zürich
Zürich City is administered by two chambers, namely the City Council and the District Council. The Zürich City Council is the executive body, consisting of nine members, headed by the City Mayor. The District Council or the Municipal Council is the legislative authority with 125 members. The people living in Zurich have the right to elect the members of both the Councils after every 4 years. Each of the 9 city departments are controlled by a separately elected City Councilor. The nine departments comprising the administration of Zürich city are as follows:
- Health and Environment
- Presidency
- Police
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- Finance
- Buildings
- School and Education
- Underground Construction and Recycling
- Public Transportation, Sanitation and Power Stations
- Social Services
The city of Zürich is divided into twelve districts, each have their own government office known as Kreisbüro. Every community is made up of a town hall and a town administration. The tourists are served by the Consultation Service for Foreigners from 9 am to 12 am and 1.30 pm to 4.30 pm on all working days. All kinds inquiries related to resident permits, schools, insurance and others are well clarified from this office. Consultations in these working departments are offered in 11 different languages, including English.
The City Council is elected according to the absolute majority rule. The nine members of the City Council acts with full responsibility and authorization of selecting the Mayor. Each of the nine City Councilors are liable for a single Department. Dr. Elmar Ledergerber was elected as the Mayor of Zürich, Switzerland on 26 May 2007. The primary duty of the Mayor is to look into the aspects of the growth and development of the city. The City Mayor looks after the Zurich administration keeping in mind the demand of the citizens living in Zurich and its suburbs.
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