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Switzerland and the Swiss Political System
Prof. Dr. Andreas Ladner
SASS 2011, July 11, 2011
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Content
1. Sw itzerland
2. History
3. Federalism, cantons and municipalities
4. Government and Parliament
5. Direct Democracy
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SwitzerlandPopulation: 7.8 mio.
Languages: German, French
and Italian
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What do people know about Switzerland?
Cheese, chocolate, watches and Nespresso?
Banks, insurances and pills?
Innovative policy solutions, political institutions
and a special form of democracy?
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Switzerland
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Content
1. Switzerland
2. History
3. Federalism, cantons and municipalities
4. Government and Parliament
5. Direct Democracy
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The beginning of Switzerland
1291 Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden – according to tradition on
1 August on the Rütli meadow – renew their alliance to defend
their property and rights against foreign attacks.
Additional urban and rural areas join or are conquered by this “Confederation” in the course of the following decades and
centuries.
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French Revolution and Helvetic Republic
“Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”: the tenets of the French
Revolution of 1789 spread to Switzerland, leading to
disturbances in several areas.
A French army under Napoleon Bonaparte conquers Switzerland
in 1798. The old Confederation collapses and makes way for theHelvetic Republic, with a single centralist constitution dictated
by the French.
In 1803 the former subject territories emerge as new cantons
with equal rights.
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The foundation of the modern national state (1848)
Tensions between the liberal Protestant and the Catholic cantons
lead to the civil war in 1847 (the “Sonderbundskrieg”).
After a brief military campaign with federal troops, the Catholics,
who had founded a separatist federation, surrender.
1848 The modern Swiss federal state is founded in 1848. Its
constitution centralises and harmonises numerous areas which
were previously the responsibility of the cantons, such as military
service, customs, and postal services and coinage.
This leads to the creation of a cohesive territory ripe for
economic development.
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A paradigmatic case of political integration
Small state
No royalist past
Strategically important location in Europe
Bottom-up nation building
Core principles of the political system: power
sharing!
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Content
1. Switzerland
2. History
3. Federalism, cantons and municipalities
4. Government and Parliament
5. Direct Democracy
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Territorial structure
26 cantons 2550 municipalities
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Municipalities
Communes are the smallest political units in Switzerland.
Their number is in decline as smaller communes are tending to merge
together in order to carry out their tasks more efficiently.
Roughly one fifth of the communes have their own parliament, especially
the communes that are towns or cities.
Four fifths of the communes, however, still make direct democratic
decisions at the communal assembly, where all inhabitants who are entitled
to vote may participate. In addition to the tasks that are allocated to them by the Confederation
and their canton, such as managing the registry of residents or organising
civil defence, the communes also have their own responsibilities, including
those relating to schools, social services, energy supplies, road
construction, local planning, taxes, etc. The communes regulate thesematters to a large extent independently.
The communes’ level of autonomy is determined by the individual cantons,
and can therefore vary considerably from place to place.
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Size of municipalities
Percentage of municipalities
0
5
10
15
20
25
b i s 2 4 9
2 5 0 - 4 9 9
5 0 0 - 9 9 9
1 0 0 0 - 1 9 9 9
2 0 0 0 - 4 9 9 9
5 0 0 0 - 9 9 9 9
1 0
0 0 0 - 1 9 9 9 9
2 0
0 0 0 - 4 9 9 9 9
5 0
0 0 0 - 9 9 9 9 9
1 0 0 0 0 0 a n d m o r e
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Cantons They are the states that originally united in 1848 to form the
Confederation, each relinquishing part of their sovereignty to the
Confederation.
Canton Jura is an exception. It is the only cant that was created in the
20th century. On 1 January 1979, it separated from Canton Bern to
become a canton in its own right.
Under the Federal Constitution, all cantons have equal rights and in
comparison with the situation in other countries, they have a high
degree of independence. Health care, education and culture are among
the policy areas where they enjoy a large degree of latitude.
Each canton has its own constitution, and its own parliament,
government and courts.
Direct democracy in the form of a People’s Assembly still exists only in
Appenzell Innerrhoden and Glarus. In all the other cantons, the people
vote at the ballot box only.
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Population by canton (2000)
ZH 1'211'647 BS 187'667
BE 943'696 GR 186'744
VD 620'294 NE 165'731
AG 544'306 SZ 130'232
SG 449'399 ZG 99'388
GE 408'820 SH 73'305
LU 347'209 JU 68'794
TI 310'215 AR 53'515
VS 276'170 GL 38'546
BL 260'036 NW 38'000
SO 244'015 UR 35'246
FR 236'339 OW 32'414
TG 227'306 A I 15'021
Quelle: www.badac.ch
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Actual reforms of Swiss federalism
Principle of subsidiarity
Disentanglement of tasks Allocations given to the weaker cantons according to their
resources
Principle of fiscal equivalence
Enforced cooperation between the lower levels
Joint tasks: higher level -> “what” (strategy) and lower level -
> “how” (operation)
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Content
1. Switzerland
2. History
3. Federalism, cantons and municipalities
4. Government and Parliament5. Direct Democracy
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Swiss parties
Union Démocratique du CentreUDC
Parti radical-démocratique PRD
Parti démocrate-chrétien PDC
Parti socialiste PS
Les verts PES
Alliance verte AVes (membre PES)
Alliance de gauche AdG
Démocrates Suisses DS
Grünliberale Zürich GLP
Lega dei Ticinesi
Parti chrétien-social PCS
Parti évangélique suisse PEV
Parti libéral PLS
Parti suisse du Travail PST
Alternative Zoug
Union Démocratique Fédérale UDF
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Four „oldder“ ones and a rather „new“ party
Social Democrats: Social security, solidarity, openness,
environment
Radicals: knowledge, openness, fairness, growth
Christian Democrats: attractive business location, family,
social security
Swiss People‘s Party: Against European integration, againstimmigration, lower tax burden
Greens: climate protection, reorganisation of the economyalong more environmental lines, the strengthening of social
institution and an active policy of peace
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Political Differences among the MPs of the
different Parties
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Parlament and Government
Swiss democracy: neither presidential (like for
example the US) nor parliamentary (like for
example England).
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The Council of States (46 seats)
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Council of States: „principle of federalism“
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Parties and seats in the Council of States (1975-2007)
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National Council (200 seats)
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National Council: „Principle of Democracy“
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Parties and seats in the National Council (1975-
2007)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
1 9 1 9
1 9 2 2
1 9 2 8
1 9 3 5
1 9 3 9
1 9 4 3
1 9 4 7
1 9 5 1
1 9 5 5
1 9 5 9
1 9 6 3
1 9 6 7
1 9 7 1
1 9 7 5
1 9 7 9
1 9 8 3
1 9 8 7
1 9 9 1
1 9 9 5
1 9 9 9
2 0 0 3
2 0 0 7
Radicals Christian Democrats Social Democrats
Swiss People's Party Greens Others
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The Government
Multi-party government (power sharing)
7 Departments
Equal rights and duties for all members
President = primus inter pares
Joint decisions on all departments
A common „official“ position to be defended by all
members
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The Parties in Government
Periode: Radicals Christian
Democrats
Swiss
People's
Party
Social
Democrats
1848 - 1890 7
1891 - 1918 6 1
1919 - 1928 5 2
1929 - 1942 4 2 11943 - 1952 3 2 1 1
1953 - 1958 3 3 1
1959 - 2003 2 2 1 2
2003 - 2007 2 1 2 22007 - 2 1 (-2) 2
(
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The Head of the Government changes every year (2003-2008)
2005 2006
2007
2004
2006 2008
20052003
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2009-2011
2009
2011
2010
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Content
1. Switzerland
2. History
3. Federalism, cantons and municipalities
4. Government and Parliament
5. Direct Democracy
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Type 1 Direct Democracy = Assembly Democracy
AI GL
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Type 2 Direct Democracy:
referendums and initiatives
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„Switzerland is virtually the only country in the world
where the people have such extensive decision-
making powers. The longstanding democratic
tradition, but also the comparatively small size of the
population and the country, as well as a high literacyrate and sophisticated media services are crucial to
the operation of this particular system of
government.”
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Referendums and initiatives
Amendments to the constitution -> mandatory
referendumAmendments to legislation -> optional referendum
Requests to change the constitution -> initiative
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The referendum is similar to a veto and has the effect of delaying andsafeguarding the political process by blocking amendments adopted by
parliament or the government or delaying their effect – the referendum
is therefore often described as a brake applied by the People.
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Functions and consequences of the referendum
Veto against the decisions of the political elite
Fosters compromises
Influences the development of the state:
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Functions and consequences of the initiative
Makes the political system more open, more « responsive »
Any political group may influence the political agenda
The political elite gets confronted with problems
Safety valve
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Success and impact of initiatives
Of a total of 109 popular initiatives that were voted on the
past 30-40 years, only eight saw a large turnout at the ballot
box – i.e. not even one out of ten. The vast majority of
initiatives achieved less than 50% votes in favour and were
rejected.
Most of these initiatives are not , however, entirely ineffective.The concerns they address often give rise to broad debate and
are eventually translated, at least partially, into new laws.
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Success and impact of referendums
Since 1971, referendum committees have been
successful on 88 occasions. They have forced popular
ballots on federal acts and decrees approved by
parliament that they did not agree with, and have won
the day 28 times at the ballot box, which amounts to an
almost one in three level of success.
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Some important decisions regarding foreign affairs
December 6, 1992: Switzerland refuses to join the
European Economic Area
Citizens yes: 49.7%; Cantons yes: 6 2/2 yes; turnout: 78.7%
March 3, 2002: Switzerland joins the United Nations
(first vote on March 16, 1986, “no”)
Citizens yes: 54.6%; Cantons yes: 11 2/2 yes; turnout: 58.4%
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Some particular issues (national level):
http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/pore/va/vab_2_2_4_1_gesamt.html
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The link between Direct Democracy and
Consensus Democracy!
The first federal government: seven members -
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one party
Direct Democracy and multi-party government:
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The story of Joseph Zemp
Joseph Zemp, Entlebuch (LU)
(1834 – 1908)
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1887: Zemp was the first conservative elected president of the National Council. When
he was elected member of the Federal Council in 1891, he received 129 of 183 votes
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Steps towards consensus
17.12.1891: Joseph Zemp (CVP, Catholic-Conservatives)
11.12.1919: Jean-Marie Musy (CVP, Catholic-Conservatives)
13.12.1929: Rudolf Minger (SVP, Sw iss People‘s Party)
15.12.1943: Ernst Nobs (SP, Social Democrats)
17.12.1959: Hans-Peter Tschudi (SP, Social Democrats) and WillySpühler (SP, Social Democrats)
1959 - 2003: The magic formula (2 Liberals, 2 Christian Democrats,2 Social Democrats, 1 Swiss People‘s Party)
2003 - : On the search for a new equilibrium (2 Radicals, 1Christian Democrats, 2 Social Democrats, 2(1) Swiss People‘s Party)
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Power sharing has both a cultural and an
institutional driver!
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After more than 160 years, there is still some
construction work going on, but it’s quite a success story.
Thank you for your attention!