Abstract„In the Name of God the Almighty!“, Swiss constitutional law on religions - balancing and apeacing in historic tradition. From the 16th century onwards, the Reformation and its consequences have influenced the development of the Swiss Confederation. During the late Middle Ages, the Confederation had been struggling to find its way as a system of treaties within a growing number of Cantons. The Reformation divided the Cantons in two ‚camps‘, both trying to defeat each other on the battlefield, which resulted in four successive Peace Treaties (‚Landfriedensbünde‘). 1847 there was a last civil war between the conservative or catholic ‚camp‘ and the liberal or protestant majority. From 1848 until 1973, the Federal Constitution contained discriminations against catholics, including a probihition of the Jesuits. In 2009, under changed circumstances, a new religious discrimination was introduced into the Constitution: the ban on minarets. Islam is now making a way through Swiss history comparable to that of Catholicism in the 19th century. Yet the law of the Cantons, developed over the centuries, provides for adequate instruments to cope with the challenges of the 21st century.
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW REGULATION OF LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT IN SPAIN
