The politics and government of Switzerland

Abstract:

Switzerland, to many in the Western world, is a country of myths and cuckoo clocks, a naive innocent in the world of power politics. This is due largely to the paucity of serious literature on Switzerland as an independent political entity. This book seeks to fill that vacuum.

The work is organised over four parts. The first part addresses the settings of Swiss politics with commentary upon the historical roots, the present socio-economic base and the framework provided by the constitution. Part two looks at the actors and institutions, starting with the people themselves; who they are, their hopes and ambitions, and how successfully they are able to play a part in Swiss politics. Part three explores the political processes with chapters on the direct democratic, the electoral, the federal, the informal and the parliamentary and consultative ways of policymaking. The closing chapter in part three examines the changing style of Swiss governance and political culture which is moving away from the consensual style of the past. Part four looks at the outcomes of all this political activity or inactivity and assesses the domestic and foreign impact and the questions raised about the future political highway for Switzerland.

The work will interest scholars and students engaged in the fields of European studies, international relations and comparative politics.

Clive H. Church is Emeritus Professor of European Studies at the University of Kent.