L'effet des rapports financiers sur la dynamique fédérale: la qualité médiative du fédéralisme suisse

✍ Scribed by Sonja Wälti

• Publisher: Swiss Political Science Association
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: German
• Weight: 276 KB
• Volume: 9
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1420-3529
• DOI: 10.1002/j.1662-6370.2003.tb00401.x

✦ Synopsis

The article examines the horizontal and vertical fiscal relations as explanatory factors of the interaction dynamics between levels of government in Switzerland. It presents the intergovernmental financial relations in Switzerland, comparing them to those in other federal countries and outlining the current reforms of the equalization system and the distribution of tasks. The author analyzes the effect the fiscal relations have on the intergovernmental interaction dynamics and discusses the potential implications of the current reforms for Swiss federalism. She demonstrates that the interaction dynamics that result from the financial relations are characterized by compensation, multilevel coordination and more rarely by unilateralism. The transformation of the financial relations that result from the current reforms, in particular the weakening of existing coordination structures, may lead to increased unilateralism and thus reduce the mediative capacity of Swiss federalism. Yet, the reform process also shows how durable the complex coordination structures are, which should be eliminated by the reforms.