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Zurich Citizenship Test: The Canton and Communes of Zurich

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Why this page matters

Each Zurich knowledge test has 35 questions on the Confederation, 10 on the canton and 5 on the communes. That is 15 of 50 questions, and you need 30 correct answers to pass. In the catalogue these questions are spread over the five areas. This page brings them together.

The communal questions are the same for everyone in the canton. They are about how Zurich communes work in general, not about your own commune.

Below are the facts you should know, in our own words. We do not reproduce the canton’s questions.

The canton: parliament and government

  • The canton has its own constitution. Cantons mainly run their own administration and pass cantonal laws.
  • The cantonal parliament is the Kantonsrat. Its 180 members are elected by the people for four years. It decides on changes to the constitution and on laws.
  • The cantonal government is the Regierungsrat, with seven members elected directly by the people.
  • The cantonal administration has seven directorates and the State Chancellery. The building directorate (Baudirektion) is one of them; the naturalisation section belongs to the Gemeindeamt in the Directorate of Justice and Home Affairs.
  • Zurich has two seats in the Council of States and 36 of the 200 seats in the National Council, more than any other canton.
  • Cantonal popular initiative: if 6,000 voters sign within six months, a popular vote must take place.
  • Optional referendum: 3,000 voters, 45 members of the Kantonsrat, or twelve communes (or the city of Zurich or Winterthur) can demand a vote on a decision of the Kantonsrat.
  • A single voter can bring a proposal to the Kantonsrat with an individual initiative; it needs the support of 60 members to go further.
  • People without the vote, including foreign nationals, can still take part, for example by sending a petition to the authorities.

Cantonal tasks you meet in daily life

  • The canton runs the University of Zurich.
  • The road traffic office (Strassenverkehrsamt) issues driving licences and registers vehicles.
  • The canton and the communes levy income and wealth tax.
  • Together with the communes, the canton organises and finances compulsory school, which in Zurich begins with kindergarten.

Facts about the canton

  • The canton’s coat of arms is divided diagonally into white and blue.
  • It has 12 districts and 160 political communes. Its capital is the city of Zurich; the largest cities are Zurich, Winterthur and Uster.
  • History, geography and culture of the canton are on the area pages: History, Geography, Culture and everyday culture.

How a Zurich commune is organised

  • The commune is the lowest of the three levels of the state. In the commune, voters take part through elections and votes.
  • In an assembly commune (Versammlungsgemeinde), the communal assembly (Gemeindeversammlung) is the legislature. It decides, for example, on the budget.
  • In a parliament commune (Parlamentsgemeinde), an elected communal parliament takes the assembly’s place. About half of the canton’s population lives in parliament communes. The parliament of the city of Zurich is elected directly by the people.
  • The executive is the communal council (Gemeindevorstand). In assembly communes it is usually called Gemeinderat and led by a Gemeindepräsident or Gemeindepräsidentin; in parliament communes it is called Stadtrat. The Stadtrat of the city of Zurich leads the city administration and sets the city’s goals.

Watch out for the word Gemeinderat: in a small commune it is the executive, but in the city of Zurich it is the name of the parliament.

What the commune does

  • It keeps the residents’ register. When you move, you register with the residents’ office (Einwohnerkontrolle).
  • It runs the primary schools, led by the school management (Schulleitung).
  • It plans local land use and decides on building permits.
  • It pays social assistance to people whose income and assets do not cover their living costs. Fiscal equalisation supports communes that are financially weak or have high social costs.
  • The electoral office (Wahlbüro) counts the ballots in votes and elections.
  • Neighbourhood associations represent residents’ concerns to the authorities. You find information about communal services in the local paper or on the commune’s website.
  • The commune also grants communal citizenship, the first of the three citizenships you receive when you are naturalised.

How to study this area

Learn the names in three columns, Confederation, canton and commune: Federal Assembly, Kantonsrat, communal assembly or parliament; Federal Council, Regierungsrat, Gemeinderat or Stadtrat. Then look at your own commune’s website: is it an assembly or a parliament commune, and who leads it? That makes the general rules easier to remember, and it helps in the naturalisation interview too.

Next step

Practise these topics with the free questions. Format and registration: Knowledge test. The other areas: Democracy and federalism, Social state and civil society.