Federal administration

The federal administration is headed by the head of state (the federal president) and by the federal ministers. The head of state is directly elected by the people every six years.

The federal government

The federal government is made up of the federal chancellor, the vice-chancellor and the other federal ministers.

The federal president is free to appoint a federal chancellor of his or her choice, who then submits to the head of state a proposal for the nomination (or dismissal) of the federal ministers and state secretaries. The federal government is subject to parliamentary supervision: if parliament casts a motion of no confidence in individual ministers or the government as a whole, the entire government or the respective minister must be removed from office.

The federal ministers are not subject to any directions from the federal chancellor in their everyday conduct of business.

The federal government performs its tasks as a collegial or collective body chaired by the Federal Chancellor. Its decisions are taken unanimously.

State secretaries

State secretaries are nominated or dismissed by the federal president upon the proposal of the federal chancellor. They are not part of the federal government but act as aides to the federal ministers, assisting them in their "everyday conduct of business", and representing them "in parliament as needed." Although they may be assigned specific tasks by the competent minister, they are not a priori responsible for any specific duties.

Federal ministries

The federal ministries act as auxiliary bodies to the respective federal ministers. Their number, tasks and designations are laid down in the Federal Ministries Act. They are governed by the principle of monocratic organisation, which means that the federal ministers decide on and are responsible for the conduct of business in compliance with general regulations. The federal chancellor is the head of the Federal Chancellery.