The Federal Assembly, which is the Swiss parliament, is made up of two chambers, namely the National Council and the Council of States, which have the same powers. It is the supreme authority of the Confederation subject to the rights of the people and the cantons.
The National Council and the Council of States sit separately; decisions taken by the Federal Assembly must be approved by both chambers.
On average, members of both chambers devote around 60% of their working hours to their parliamentary duties; most of them have a career not related to parliament.