Switzerland in Europe and the World

The final chapter looks at Switzerland in Europe and the world. The first section discusses the reasons why Switzerland is not a member of the EU. The second and third sections analyse the reasons and political consequences of Switzerland’s selective participation without membership and try to answer the question whether or not ‘bilateralism’ is a sustainable strategy for the Swiss preference: utmost economic integration and least political loss of national autonomy. The final section addresses the growing interest in the institutions of Swiss democracy from abroad, be it regarding decentralisation, direct democracy or political power-sharing. Instead of wanting to export democracy, the chapter proposes the ‘dialogue model’ as a discourse between equals. Through this approach, others can draw from the ‘Swiss experience’ as a base for autochthonal developments of their institutions. And the Swiss can be inspired, in turn.