1st Edition

Swiss Federalism The Transformation of a Federal Model

By Adrian Vatter Copyright 2018
    304 Pages 16 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    304 Pages 16 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    The political and economic crisis of EU integration has made it increasingly apparent how challenging it is to bring together different sovereign cultures, languages and regions into a single political system. Switzerland – being one of the three classic federations in the world – can provide insights, particularly in relation to the accommodation of cultural, linguistic, religious and regional diversity, which can help tackle contemporary challenges.

    This book describes and analyses the characteristics, institutions, and processes of Swiss federalism, along with its combination of stability and change. It presents a comprehensive study of the federal system of Switzerland, where it comes from, how it operates, and the way it has changed of late. This will allow readers to appreciate the specific and current answers the Swiss case offers to the main questions raised by wider federal research.

    This text will be of key interest to scholars and students in federalism and territorial politics, political institutions, local and regional government studies, multi-level governance and more broadly to European and comparative politics.

    1. Introduction

    2. Foundations and Structure of Swiss Federalism

    3. The Institutions of Swiss Federalism

    4. Subnational Actors in the Swiss Federal System

    5. The Process of Swiss Federalism

    6. Conclusions

    Biography

    Adrian Vatter is Professor of Political Science (Swiss Politics) at the Institute of Political Science, University of Bern in Switzerland.