Federal debt in the United States has been growing at an unsustainable rate for more than half a century under both Republican and Democrat administrations. Over this same period, Switzerland has relied on debt brakes at all levels of government to reduce and stabilize debt burdens. The Swiss rely on fiscal rules incorporated into their Constitution to limit government taxes, spending, and debt accumulation. At the federal level, the debt brake was incorporated into the Swiss Constitution through referendum in 2001, with support from 85 percent of the electorate. Since 2001, the debt brake has allowed the Swiss federal government to cut the ratio of debt to national income roughly in half.