Switzerland is a decentralized federal republic made up of 20 cantons and six semi-cantons. These in turn are divided into municipalities. Legislative power lies with the bicameral Federal Assembly. A chamber is made up of 200 representatives chosen by the electorate for a four-year term. The other, which has 46 representatives, is chosen directly by the cantons. Each sends two representatives, but the methods of their election and the duration of their service depend on the laws of the individual cantons. Executive power is in the hands of the Federal Council, chosen by the Assembly. The council is made up of seven members elected for four-year terms and act as a cabinet. One of the board members is chosen as president but only serves for one year. The president's powers are therefore extremely limited. Women did not gain suffrage until 1971. While men in one of the half-cantons continued to reject proposals to grant women the right to vote on local issues, the national High Court in 1990 ordered them to grant this right to women. it was the fulcrum of the Protestant Reformation and the cantons divided along religious lines. One of the greatest political and religious leaders of the Reformation was John Calvin. His success lies in his extraordinary ability to combine extreme political beliefs with administrative talent. Calvin made much of Switzerland a tower of Protestant strength. Both civil and secular law were dominated by Calvin's sermons. His religious base was Geneva, but his ideas quickly spread to Scotland, the Netherlands and even southern France. Another famous religious leader was Ulrich Zwingli, who preached in Zurich and led the Protestants in a long civil war with their Roman Catholic neighbors (see Calvin; Zwingli). Switzerland's secession from the Holy Roman Empire was recognized by the Treaty of Westphalia, which followed the Thirty Years' War in the early 17th century. The desire for independence eventually overshadowed the religious conflict, and the new state soon regained political stability. There was an intellectual flowering of literature and philosophy in centers such as Geneva, Basel, Bern and Zurich. During the subsequent Napoleonic period, Switzerland was occupied by the French, who imposed their institutions on the country. All this ended with the defeat of the French and the convening of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, which guaranteed Swiss neutrality for the foreseeable future.