Members of the Federal Council are elected by members of parliament.

All members of the Federal Council take collective responsibility for decisions. Some analysts see the system as a way to tame dissent, bringing potential opposition into government.

When a federal councillor retires or dies, his or her replacement is elected by parliament. In theory any Swiss citizen can stand for the post; in practice the new councillor is chosen from a list put forward by the outgoing councillor's party. Members of the Federal Council are not members of parliament.

Once a councillor has been elected, he or she remains in office during the life of the parliament which chose them. After parliamentary elections (i.e. every four years), the councillors submit themselves individually for re-election unless they want to retire. Normally this re-election is a formality, and most councillors remain in office until they themselves decide to step down.

Between 1959 and 2003 government seats were distributed between the political parties according to the "magic formula". This gave two seats each to the then largest parties, the Free Democrats, Social Democrats and Christian Democrats, and one to the Swiss People’s Party. During this period the number of seats held by each of the government parties changed considerably.

The formula was broken after the 2003 elections, when the Swiss People’s Party became the biggest single group in parliament. It then took one seat from the Christian Democrats, who were the smallest. This was the first time in 131 years that a member of the Council standing for reelection had been rejected by parliament.

Until the constitution was amended on January 1st 2000, no two councillors could come from the same canton. Although this rule has been dropped, efforts are made to try to ensure that all areas of the country are represented. In recent years there has also been a move to put forward more female candidates.