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Swiss Democracy : Possible Solutions to Conflict in Multicultural Societies.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Linder, Wolf.
Other Authors: Mueller, Sean.
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Cham : Springer International Publishing AG, 2021.
Edition:4th ed.
Subjects:
Electronic books.
Online Access:Click to View
Table of Contents:
  • Swiss Democracy
  • Preface to the Fourth Edition
  • Abbreviations
  • Contents
  • List of Figures
  • List of Tables
  • List of Boxes
  • Chapter 1: Introduction
  • References
  • Chapter 2: Building a Multicultural Society by Political Integration
  • 2.1 Introduction
  • 2.2 The Origins of Modern Switzerland
  • 2.3 Turning Poor Odds into Good Ones: Factors that Made Swiss Nation-Building a Success3
  • 2.3.1 Economy
  • 2.3.2 Pressure from the Outside
  • 2.3.3 Democracy and Social Values
  • 2.3.4 Combining Democracy with Federalism
  • 2.4 Religious and Ethnic Minorities: From Coexistence to Pluralism
  • 2.4.1 Political Catholicism: From Segmentation to Integration
  • 2.4.2 Multilingualism: Understandings and Misunderstandings
  • 2.4.3 Jura: The Exception to Integration
  • 2.5 The Challenges of Socio-economic Inequality
  • 2.5.1 A Working Class Without a Homeland
  • 2.5.2 From Class Struggle to Economic Partnership
  • 2.6 Proportional Representation: The Universal Key to Power-Sharing
  • 2.7 The Limits of Swiss Pluralism: New Challenges for Integration
  • 2.8 Conclusion
  • References
  • Chapter 3: Federalism
  • 3.1 Institutions
  • 3.1.1 The Swiss Interpretation of Federalism
  • 3.1.2 The Division of Powers Between the Federation and the Cantons
  • 3.1.3 Non-centralisation-Not Decentralisation
  • 3.1.4 Relations Between the Federation and the Cantons
  • 3.2 Federal Elements in the Decision-Making Process
  • 3.2.1 Bicameralism
  • 3.2.2 The People's and the Cantons' Vote
  • 3.2.3 Local Governments: The Corner Stone of the Swiss 'Bottom-Up' State
  • 3.2.4 Citizens' Self-administration
  • 3.3 Federalism at Work
  • 3.3.1 Cooperative Federalism: How Federal Tasks Are Implemented by Cantons and Communes
  • 3.3.2 Energy Policy: From Federal Deadlock to Cantonal Experiments
  • 3.3.3 Coping with Inequality: The Example of Swiss Primary Schools.
  • 3.3.4 Swiss Federalism: Solidarity Is more Important than Competition
  • 3.3.5 Dealing with Separatism: The Arduous Birth of a New Canton
  • 3.4 The Limits of Swiss Federalism
  • 3.4.1 Limits of Implementation: Why Some Foreigners Can Buy Real Estate in Switzerland But Others Cannot
  • 3.4.2 The Weakness of Federal Authorities: How a Canton Can Deny Human Rights to Its Citizens
  • 3.5 Challenges
  • 3.5.1 Federalism Versus Democracy: Why One Citizen from Uri Outweighs 35 Citizens from Zurich
  • 3.5.2 Urban Regions-The Forgotten Dimension of Swiss Federalism
  • 3.5.3 The External Challenge: Federalism in a Period of Globalisation
  • 3.5.4 The Internal Challenge: Why Do the Swiss Want to Preserve Federalism?
  • References
  • Chapter 4: Direct Democracy
  • 4.1 Introduction: The Vote to Abolish the Swiss Army
  • 4.2 Institutions, Historical Development and Meanings of Direct Democracy
  • 4.2.1 Obligatory and Optional Referenda
  • 4.2.2 The Popular Initiative
  • 4.2.3 Direct and Semi-direct Democracy: Historical Origins and Development
  • 4.3 A Closer Look at the Referendum and the Initiative
  • 4.3.1 The Issues
  • 4.3.2 Direct Democracy's Role in Political Agenda-Setting
  • 4.3.3 The Use of Referenda and Initiatives
  • 4.3.4 'Braking' Referenda and 'Innovating' Initiatives: Two Different Devices of Direct Democracy
  • 4.3.4.1 The Braking Effect of the Referendum
  • 4.3.4.2 The Innovating Effect of the Popular Initiative
  • 4.4 Participation in Direct Democracy
  • 4.4.1 The Deciding Majority, Or Who Are the People?
  • 4.4.2 Regular Voters, Occasional Participants and Abstentionists
  • 4.5 The People Between Knowledge, Trust and Propaganda
  • 4.5.1 Example of a Vote: Should There Be Tougher Restrictions on Refugees Seeking Asylum in Switzerland?
  • 4.5.2 Shaping Opinions in a Voting Campaign: The Actors.
  • 4.5.3 Are Voters Capable to Decide on High Policy? Theory and Swiss Experience
  • 4.5.4 The Role of Political Parties and Their Campaign
  • 4.5.5 Can Money Buy Votes?
  • 4.6 Conclusions
  • 4.6.1 Semi-direct Democracy: An Exceptional System
  • 4.6.2 Direct Democracy Between Integration and Polarisation
  • 4.6.3 Digitalisation: Opportunity, Risk-Or Both?
  • 4.6.4 The Political Culture of Direct Democracy: Particularities and Limits
  • References
  • Chapter 5: Consensus Democracy: The Swiss System of Power-Sharing
  • 5.1 The Development of Swiss Consensus Democracy
  • 5.1.1 The Impact of the Referendum on the Composition of the Government
  • 5.1.2 Impacts on the Legislative Process
  • 5.2 The System of Power-Sharing: Actors and the Political Process
  • 5.2.1 Actors and Their Functions
  • 5.2.2 The Policy Cycle
  • 5.3 The Features of Power-Sharing
  • 5.3.1 The Main Characteristics of Political Compromise: No Single Winner Takes All, Everybody Wins Something
  • 5.3.2 The Technique of Political Compromise: Compensations That Transform Conflict from Zero-Sum into Positive-Sum Games
  • 5.3.3 Cooperation, Trust and the Deliberative Learning Processes
  • 5.3.4 Political Elitism and Its Limits
  • 5.4 The Critics of Swiss Consensus Democracy
  • 5.4.1 The Referendum as an Instrument of Vested Interests
  • 5.4.2 Inequalities of Influence
  • 5.4.3 Lack of Innovation?
  • 5.5 Consensus Democracy Under Stress
  • 5.5.1 The 'Konkordanz' Crisis of 2008
  • 5.5.2 Power-Sharing in a Polarised Parliament
  • 5.5.3 The Pressure of Globalisation
  • 5.6 Conclusions
  • 5.6.1 Swiss Democracy: An Exceptional System
  • 5.6.2 Who Has More Influence: The British or the Swiss Voter?-The Trade-off Between Elections and Direct Participation
  • 5.6.3 Consensus Democracy: Its Past and Its Future
  • References
  • Chapter 6: Comparative Perspectives
  • 6.1 Direct Democracy.
  • 6.1.1 Experiences of Direct Democracy Compared
  • 6.1.2 The Practice of Direct Democracy in US States and Switzerland: Similarities and Differences
  • 6.1.3 The Theory of Direct Democracy: Between Ideal and Reality
  • 6.1.3.1 Direct Versus Representative Democracy
  • 6.1.3.2 'Sensible' or 'Semi-Direct' Democracy: A Third Model?
  • 6.1.3.3 Perspectives of Direct Participation
  • 6.2 Federalism
  • 6.2.1 Basics of Federal Institutions
  • 6.2.2 Structure, Processes and Political Culture
  • 6.2.3 Modern Meanings of Federalism
  • 6.2.3.1 Cultural Autonomy and Difference
  • 6.2.3.2 Federalism in Times of Globalisation
  • 6.2.3.3 Federalism in Developing Countries
  • 6.2.3.4 Federalism as a Guarantee for Cultural Difference and Diversity
  • 6.2.3.5 Federalism and Democracy
  • 6.2.3.6 The Question of Secession
  • 6.2.4 Non-Territorial Federalism
  • 6.3 Power-Sharing and Consensus Democracy
  • 6.3.1 Majoritarian and Consensus Democracy: A Comparison
  • 6.3.2 Democratic Power-Sharing: A Key to Resolving Conflicts in Multicultural Societies
  • References
  • Chapter 7: Switzerland in Europe and the World
  • 7.1 Europeanised but not a Member of the EU: Why?
  • 7.1.1 Direct Democracy
  • 7.1.2 National Autonomy and Political Neutrality
  • 7.1.3 The Political Economy of Globalisation and Europeanisation
  • 7.2 Can the Institutions of Swiss Democracy Autonomously Survive?
  • 7.3 The Future
  • 7.4 What the Case of Switzerland Can Bring to Others
  • 7.4.1 Switzerland: An 'export model'?
  • 7.4.2 The 'dialogue model'
  • References
  • Index.

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