Abstract
In the domain of social security, the Swiss government – the Federal Council – is responsible for preparing governance decisions that have longterm consequences for the living conditions of the total population and are of a high financial relevance. It is thus important that these decisions be taken in a foresightful manner and based on grounded situation analyses and projections of the future development. This article discusses, how the Federal Council and the Federal Administration comply with this responsible task, on what grounds they found their governance decisions, how they perform strategic situation analyses and evaluate future developments, how they identify need for action and draw conclusions for the strategic governance of social security in Switzerland.