How Liechtenstein is governed, between the Prince and the ballot box

Liechtenstein’s political system is easy to misread from abroad because it doesn’t resemble anything nearby. It isn’t a ceremonial monarchy like Britain’s, and it isn’t a country run by a prince on a whim either. It’s a balance, sometimes a tense one, between a sovereign with genuine powers and a people who vote directly on a great deal. This is how I’d explain it to a visitor wondering who really calls the shots up at the castle.

A prince with real power

The 1921 constitution, in Article 2, defines the country as a hereditary constitutional monarchy on a democratic and parliamentary basis, and says state power rests with the Prince and the people. Both at once, and that’s the key.

The Prince is no figurehead. No law is valid without his sanction, under Article 9, and if he hasn’t given it within six months it counts as refused. He can convene, close or dissolve the Landtag, appoints the judges and holds the right of pardon. Article 7 also places him beyond the reach of the courts. Hans-Adam II has reigned since 13 November 1989, but since 15 August 2004 his son, Hereditary Prince Alois, has exercised those powers as his representative. I introduce them both on the Prince of Liechtenstein.

So who actually governs?

Day-to-day business falls to a five-member collegiate government, appointed by the Prince in agreement with the Landtag and on its proposal. The constitution requires each region to supply at least two of them. Since the 2025 election the coalition has been formed by the Patriotic Union (VU) and the Progressive Citizens’ Party (FBP), with Brigitte Haas as head of government since 10 April 2025 and Sabine Monauni as her deputy. It meets in the government building in Vaduz, dating from 1905.

The Landtag’s 25 seats are filled by list-based proportional voting every four years, with 15 allocated to the Oberland and 10 to the Unterland. A list needs more than 8% of the national vote to win any, and voters last went to the polls on 9 February 2025.

The people have their say too

This is where Liechtenstein looks Swiss. With 1,000 signatures or the backing of three municipalities, citizens can propose a law or demand a referendum on any law the Landtag passes, unless it’s declared urgent, and on large spending decisions from CHF 500,000 upwards. Changing the constitution takes 1,500 signatures or four municipalities.

It isn’t just theory. The Historisches Lexikon counts 58 referendum votes between 1919 and March 2009, and 32 popular initiatives voted on between 1921 and 2009, just under 44% of which succeeded. One date still strikes me as remarkably late, women’s national suffrage, which only arrived in 1984, through a men-only referendum won by 119 votes.

The checks added in 2003

The 2003 constitutional reform rewrote several articles on the Prince and added two that I think are the most original part of the system. Article 13ter lets 1,500 citizens table a motion of no confidence in the Prince, which then goes to a referendum. And Article 113 lets another 1,500 call for the monarchy to be abolished. If the people agree, the Landtag drafts a republican constitution, and the Prince may put forward his own for the same vote.

Add Article 4, which gives each municipality the right to leave the state by a majority of its voters. And within the family, on 15 August 2026 the Princely House adopted absolute primogeniture, but only for those born from now on to Alois’s children. I go into that on the Princely House of Liechtenstein.

Why it matters to a visitor

You’ll feel the system more than you’d expect. The castle above Vaduz isn’t a museum but the home of a head of state with real powers, which is why it stays closed. The parliament and the government building stand a few steps apart below it, and on 15 August the national holiday brings Prince and people together in the castle meadow. For me, that closeness between ruler and ruled is the thread running through the whole country.

How to see it for yourself

Anyone can watch the Landtag at work from the public gallery in Vaduz. The three sessions left in 2026 open on 30 September, 4 November and 2 December, each running for three days. When parliament isn’t sitting, the Landtag offers guided tours of the building on request by email, but not during sittings. The practical details are on the Liechtenstein parliament.