The Swiss constitution goes far beyond that of the United States in dealing with citizenship, and the rights, civil and political, thereto commonly appertaining. It practically reverses the system as it exists in the United States. There are no citizens of Switzerland and _ipso facto_ citizens of the Canton “wherein they reside.” To the contrary, “every citizen of a Canton,” the constitution declares, “is a Swiss citizen.” In the words of an eminent Swiss writer, “The national citizenship proceeds from below.” As to the electoral body, while in the United States it is determined by the State, within the limitations of the Fifteenth Amendment, in Switzerland, with the exceptions as to communal corporate matters, it is fixed by the Confederation in its organic law, with provisions clear and full. Swiss political active citizenship is derived from above, proceeding from the Confederation, and from this source descending to the Canton and the Commune. The individual once admitted to cantonal citizenship, the Confederation steps forward and invests him with its nationality, and asserts its exclusive dominion over him as an elector, declaring he may take part, in any place where he has acquired residence, in all federal elections and votes. Coming from any part of the Confederation and taking up his residence in a Canton, he may, after a residence of three months there, enjoy in his place of settlement all the rights of a citizen of the Canton; and with these, also, the rights of a citizen of a Commune, except as to the common property and corporation. The Confederation, under the constitution, is charged with fixing, by law, “the limits within which a Swiss citizen may be deprived of his political rights.” Swiss citizenship, as defined in the constitution,--“Every citizen of a Canton is also a Swiss citizen,”--is far from being so accessible as the simple terms of its definition might imply. It is a difficult, tedious, and expensive process. As the cantonal citizenship precedes the federal, so the communal citizenship precedes the cantonal. Every Swiss citizen must belong to some Commune. He must possess a Commune of origin, which in French is called “_Bourgeoisie_,” and in German “_Bürgergemeinde_.” If not obtained by inheritance, then he must purchase it at what the Commune sees proper to charge; only a few poorer Communes having free admission, or at least with trifling fees.