1848 · Constitutions

Swiss Federal Constitution of 1848

Switzerland

The constitution that turned Switzerland from a loose league of cantons into a federal state, with two parliamentary chambers and a federal government.

Why it matters

It shows the American federal model adapted to a European country, and later added direct-democratic tools, the referendum and the popular initiative, that other countries admired.

Built on

1787 (in force 1789)

Constitution of the United States

United States

took the idea of two chambers and a federal division of powers

Went on to shape

1900 (in force 1901)

Commonwealth of Australia Constitution

Australia

borrowed the use of a referendum to change the constitution

Countries in the Legal Families Atlas

Switzerland

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TheLawToKnow Tools’s timeline lists links of influence only where the borrowing is widely documented. Historians sometimes disagree about how much one text shaped another. It is an educational overview, not legal advice.