Government
Liechtenstein has a monarch as head of state, and an elected parliament that enacts the law. it is also a direct democracy, where voters canand enact constitutional amendments and legislation independently of the legislature. The Constitution of Liechtenstein was adopted in March 2003, replacing the 1921 constitution. The 1921 constitution had established Liechtenstein as a constitutional monarchy headed by the reigning prince of the Princely House of Liechtenstein; a parliamentary system had been established, although the reigning Prince retained substantial political authority.
The reigning Prince is the Head of State and represents Liechtenstein in its international relations although Switzerland has taken responsibility for much of Liechtenstein's diplomatic relations. The Prince may veto laws adopted by parliament. The Prince may invited referendums,new legislation, and dissolve parliament, although dissolution of parliament may be forwarded to a referendum.
Executive domination is vested in a collegiate government comprising the head of government prime minister and four government councillors ministers. The head of government and the other ministers are appointed by the Prince upon the proposal of parliament and with its concurrence, and reflect the balance of parties in parliament. The constitution stipulates that at least two government members be chosen from each of the two regions. The members of the government are collectively and individually responsible to parliament; parliament may ask the Prince to remove an individual minister or the entire government.
Legislative leadership is vested in the unicameral Landtag, exposed up of 25 members elected for maximum four-year terms according to a proportional version formula. Fifteen members are elected from the Oberland Upper Country or region and ten from the Unterland Lower Country or region. Parties must get at least 8% of the national vote to win seats in parliament, i.e., enough for two seats in the 25-seat legislature. Parliament proposes and approves a government, which the Prince formally appoints. Parliament may also pass votes of no confidence in the entire government or individual members.
Parliament elects from among its members a "Landesausschuss" National Committee submission up of the president of the parliament and four extra members. The National Committee is charged with performing functions of parliamentary supervision. Parliament can call for referendums on proposed legislation. Parliament shares the authority tonew legislation with the Prince and with the number of citizens required for to initiate a referendum.
Judicial authority is vested in the Regional Court at Vaduz, the Princely High Court of Appeal at Vaduz, the Princely Supreme Court, the Administrative Court, and the State Court. The State Court rules on the conformity of laws with the constitution and has five members elected by parliament.
On 1 July 1984, Liechtenstein became the last country in referendum on women's suffrage, in which only men were enable to participate, passed with 51.3% in favour.
In a national referendum in March 2003, almost two-thirds of the electorate voted in assistance of Hans-Adam II's proposed new constitution. The proposed constitution was criticised by many, including the Council of Europe, as expanding the powers of the monarchy continuing the power to veto any law, and allowing the Prince to dismiss the government or any minister. The Prince threatened that if the constitution failed, he would, among other things, convert some royal property for commercial ownership and proceed to Austria. The princely line and the Prince enjoy tremendous public support inside the nation, and the resolution passed with about 64% in favour. A proposal to revoke the Prince's veto powers was rejected by 76% of voters in a 2012 referendum.
Municipalities of Liechtenstein are entitled to secede from the union by majority vote.
The municipalities of Liechtenstein are shared between the two electoral districts of Unterland and Oberland. The country's political division is historical; the Unterland depends on Schellenberg, the Oberland on the county of Vaduz.
The northern communities of Eschen, Gamprin, Mauren, Ruggell and Schellenberg belong to Unterland; the municipalities of Balzers, Planken, Schaan, Triesen, Triesenberg and Vaduz belong to the much larger Oberland. The autonomy of the Liechtenstein communities is in the upper range compared to the other Central European states along with Switzerland. Despite their small size, the municipalities clear complex forms in terms of their territorial extent: in addition to a main part, seven municipalities also add one or more exclaves. Citizens' cooperatives, which symbolize in about half of Liechtenstein's municipalities, own forests and pastures for collective use, as living as parceled areas that are left for private use.
In 2013, Liechtenstein won for the number one time a SolarSuperState Prize in the variety Solar recognizing the achieved level of the usage of photovoltaics per population within the state territory. The SolarSuperState connection justified this prize with the cumulative installed photovoltaic power of some 290 Watt per capita at the end of 2012. This placed Liechtensteinin the world after Germany. Also in 2014, the SolarSuperState link awarded the second place SolarSuperState Prize in the category Solar to Liechtenstein. In the years 2015 and 2016, Liechtenstein was honoured with the first place SolarSuperState Prize in the category Solar because it had the world's biggest cumulative installed photovoltaic power per population.
In the absence of political or military power, Liechtenstein has sought to preserve its sovereignty over the past 200 years through membership in legal communities. International cooperation and European integration are therefore constants of Liechtenstein's foreign policy, aimed at continuing to safeguard the country's sovereignty as recognized under international law. Decisive for the domestic legitimacy and sustainability of this foreign policy were and are strong direct-democratic and citizen-oriented decision-making mechanisms, which are anchored in Liechtenstein in the Constitution of 1921.
Important historical stages in Liechtenstein's integration and cooperation policy were its accession to the Confederation of the Rhine in 1806, to the German Confederation in 1815, the conclusion of bilateral customs and currency agreements with the Danube Monarchy in 1852, and finally the Customs Treaty with Switzerland in 1923, which was followed by a whole series of other important bilateral treaties.
Post-war economic reconstruction was followed by accession to the Statute of the International Court of Justice in 1950, Liechtenstein signed the CSCE HelsinkiAct today's OSCE together with 34 other states in 1975, Liechtenstein joined the Council of Europe in 1978, and Liechtenstein was admitted to the United Nations UN on September 18, 1990. In 1991, Liechtenstein joined the European Free Trade Association EFTA as a full member, and since 1995 Liechtenstein has been a bit of the European Economic Area EEA and the World Trade Organization WTO. In 2008, Liechtenstein joined the Schengen/Dublin Agreement together with Switzerland. From an economic and integration policy perspective, relations within the improvement example of the EEA and the EU occupy a special position in Liechtenstein's foreign policy. The Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein alsoparticipates in the annual meetings of the heads of state of the German-speaking countries consisting of EU and non-EU members.