The Politics and Government of Switzerland

✍ Scribed by Clive H. Church

• Year: 2004
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 300
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

The Politics and Government of Switzerland is one of very few English language studies of contemporary Swiss politics. Drawing on recent research in Switzerland, and the author's own observations, it offers wide coverage of Swiss political forces, processes and policies. Church argues that Switzerland is actually a vibrant and pluralist polity, in which politics are increasingly competitive. However, it still retains some distinctive characteristics like direct democracy, which mean that the Swiss people play a larger role than in other countries.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
Contents......Page 8
List of Maps, Boxes and Exhibits......Page 10
Preface......Page 11
Abbreviations......Page 13
Introduction......Page 16
Part I The Setting......Page 24
1 The Swiss and their History......Page 26
2 The Socio-Economic Context......Page 38
3 The Constitutional Framework......Page 50
Part II Political Actors and Institutions......Page 64
4 The People at Politics......Page 66
5 Political Parties......Page 75
6 Interest Groups......Page 86
7 Social and Other Movements......Page 97
8 Cantons and Communes......Page 107
9 Parliament......Page 118
10 The Executive......Page 128
11 Judiciary, Police and Army......Page 138
Part III Political Processes......Page 146
12 The Electoral Process......Page 148
13 The Direct Democratic Process......Page 158
14 The Federal Process......Page 169
15 Consultation and the National Policymaking......Page 178
16 Informal Politics......Page 187
17 Governance and Swiss Political Style......Page 194
Part IV Outputs......Page 202
18 Economic Policies......Page 204
19 Social and Cultural Policies......Page 212
20 Neutrality, Defence and Foreign Policy......Page 220
21 Europe and Swiss Political Integration......Page 230
Problems and Prospects......Page 239
Annex I Extracts from the 1999 Constitution......Page 242
Annex II Profiles of Swiss Political Parties......Page 248
Annex III Cantonal and Communal Statistics......Page 257
Annex IV Federal Ministerial Structures......Page 259
Annex V Election Results......Page 266
Annex VI Results of Selected Recent Votations......Page 269
B......Page 272
D......Page 273
G......Page 274
M......Page 275
P......Page 276
T......Page 277
W......Page 278
A Guide to Further Reading......Page 279
B......Page 291
C......Page 292
E......Page 293
G......Page 294
K......Page 295
N......Page 296
P......Page 297
S......Page 298
Z......Page 300