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Federal Democracy in Switzerland

Dardanelli, Paolo (2010) Federal Democracy in Switzerland. In: Burgess, Michael and Gagnon, Alain-G., eds. Federal Democracies. Routledge Series in Federal Studies . Routledge, London, pp. 142-159. ISBN 0-415-55548-5. (KAR id:24247)

Abstract

This chapter investigates the relationship between federalism and democracy in Switzerland. It explores how the interaction between them has evolved over time in the Swiss system in relation, among other things, to the expansion of direct democracy, the changing nature of minorities and the representation of cantonal interests at the federal level. The chapter argues that, by and large, federalism and democracy have reinforced each other in Switzerland. However, there are also multiple sources of tensions between the two and significant challenges on the horizon. Despite the system's idiosyncrasies, Switzerland's experience thus offers some valuable lessons of wide relevance.

Item Type: Book section
Projects: Federalism, Nationality and Democracy in Switzerland
Subjects: J Political Science
J Political Science > JN Political institutions and public administration (Europe)
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Politics and International Relations
Funders: British Academy (https://ror.org/0302b4677)
Depositing User: Paolo Dardanelli
Date Deposited: 09 Apr 2010 14:26 UTC
Last Modified: 12 Jul 2022 10:40 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/24247 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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