Consensus Democracy: The Swiss System of Power-Sharing

This chapter unpacks the notion of power-sharing and explains its centrality for political Switzerland. While direct democracy has played an important part in its evolution, law-making in Switzerland has become impossible without the participation of various interest groups at early stages of drafting already. The chapter details the functioning of Switzerland’s broad-based political pluralism, its structure of consociational democracy, the representation of the most important political parties and interest groups, and the ensuing processes of negotiation and mutual adjustment. It also discusses challenges and pitfalls of power-sharing.

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.

Federalism

This chapter focuses on Swiss federalism. Federalism allows the division of power between one central and many regional governments and is therefore a widely used institutional arrangement in multicultural societies. But rather than just focusing on local and regional autonomy and differences, Swiss federalism also allows for collective participation and coming-together for the purpose of joint problem-solving. Federalism thus understood and practised has helped bridge the gap between different cultural communities. In difference to other countries, not so much competition and regional rivalries than rather solidarity and mutuality characterise Swiss federalism. Key expression of this solidarity is a sophisticated system of fiscal equalisation made up of both vertical (top-down) and horizontal (inter-cantonal) payments.

Building a Multicultural Society by Political Integration

This chapter explains how, despite the absence of single ethnic culture, Swiss state- and nation-building was possible. Neither the Swiss nation, nor the Swiss society existed when modern Switzerland was founded in 1848, after a brief civil war. The chapter provides a reading of Swiss history since then as one of gradually achieving the participation of the most important minority groups and the different social classes through proportional representation. Beginning with the losers of the civil war, the Catholic-Conservatives, followed by Protestant farmers and the petite bourgeoise, and ending with the Social-Democrats, the Swiss thus invented the ‘magic formula’ in 1959 for proportionally sharing the seven seats in the federal government. Even the rise of right-wing populism since the 1990s has not changed this basic feature.

Comparative Perspectives

This chapter develops three comparative perspectives. Beginning with direct democracy, enhancing the direct participation of people as in Switzerland—considered revolutionary in the nineteenth century—may still be regarded a progressive form of democracy. But are increased political rights, offering the people not only a voice in electing their representatives but also a chance to decide major decisions directly, really an efficient way to improve democracy? The second perspective deals with federalism. Traditionally understood as a means for the vertical division of power within states, can it also play a role for the supranational division of power and the participation of minorities? The last section places political power-sharing in a context of conflict resolution, especially in multicultural societies. The chapter ends by stressing that power-sharing is not just an institutional arrangement, but that it also has to be based on the specific culture of a society that intends to practice it.

Direct Democracy

Chapter 10.1007/978-3-030-63266-3_4 discusses the emergence, types and functioning of Swiss direct democracy and assesses its effects on power-sharing and the political system more broadly. Contrary to what many theorists have claimed, direct democracy is not too demanding for people in a highly developed industrial society. The fact that citizens have a direct say up to four times a year at federal level, in addition to frequent referendums at cantonal and local level, makes voting almost a routine exercise. It also allows today’s losers to become tomorrow’s winners—and vice versa, thus fostering mutual respect and cooperation. Yet contrary also to what some revolutionaries had hoped for, it has not led to radical change either. Instead, direct democracy has above all led to political conservatism, be that regarding welfare policies, defence or European integration.

Introduction

The introductory chapter presents the main puzzle of Swiss democracy as combining an extraordinary degree of political stability with openness and broad forms of participation. It also explains the structure of the book and summarises the main contribution of each chapter.