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Its highly fragmented structure of local governments and serious horizontal fiscal imbalances make Switzerland a surprisingly powerful model for Eastern European countries that are currently facing the challenge of fiscal decentralization. In spite of the substantial differences in the tradition and current practice of intergovernmental fiscal relations, transition economies may learn valuable lessons from the Swiss case in the fields of direct democracy, horizontal cooperation, expenditure and revenue assignment, and fiscal discipline. Among other conclusions, the authors suggest that subnational authorities can effectively fend off recentralization attempts of the central government if they engage in spontaneous cooperation to enhance the efficiency of public service provision. Together with an adequate fiscal equalization scheme, interjurisdictional cooperation also permits the reconciliation of the objective of an increasing devolution of powers with the existing regional disparities. The authors also show that the principle of subsidiarity can best be safeguarded by anchoring the expenditure and revenue powers of subnational governments in the constitution or in a similarly strong law. With regard to fiscal discipline, the combination of a "golden rule" with direct democratic instruments of budget control is proven to be successful in enhancing the accountability of local politicians toward their constituencies.
Its highly fragmented structure of local governments and serious horizontal fiscal imbalances make Switzerland a surprisingly powerful model for Eastern European countries that are currently facing the challenge of fiscal decentralization. In spite of the substantial differences in the tradition and current practice of intergovernmental fiscal relations, transition economies may learn valuable lessons from the Swiss case in the fields of direct democracy, horizontal cooperation, expenditure and revenue assignment, and fiscal discipline. Among other conclusions, the authors suggest that subnational authorities can effectively fend off recentralization attempts of the central government if they engage in spontaneous cooperation to enhance the efficiency of public service provision. Together with an adequate fiscal equalization scheme, interjurisdictional cooperation also permits the reconciliation of the objective of an increasing devolution of powers with the existing regional disparities. The authors also show that the principle of subsidiarity can best be safeguarded by anchoring the expenditure and revenue powers of subnational governments in the constitution or in a similarly strong law. With regard to fiscal discipline, the combination of a "golden rule" with direct democratic instruments of budget control is proven to be successful in enhancing the accountability of local politicians toward their constituencies.
Swiss citizens approve of their government and the way democracy is practiced; they trust the authorities and are satisfied with the range of services Swiss governments provide. This is quite unusual when compared to other countries. This open access book provides insight into the organization and the functioning of the Swiss state. It claims that, beyond politics, institutions and public administration, there are other factors which make a country successful. The authors argue that Switzerland is an interesting case, from a theoretical, scientific and a more practice-oriented perspective. While confronted with the same challenges as other countries, Switzerland offers different solutions, some of which work astonishingly well.
The political and economic crisis of EU integration has made it increasingly apparent how challenging it is to bring together different sovereign cultures, languages and regions into a single political system. Switzerland – being one of the three classic federations in the world – can provide insights, particularly in relation to the accommodation of cultural, linguistic, religious and regional diversity, which can help tackle contemporary challenges. This book describes and analyses the characteristics, institutions, and processes of Swiss federalism, along with its combination of stability and change. It presents a comprehensive study of the federal system of Switzerland, where it comes from, how it operates, and the way it has changed of late. This will allow readers to appreciate the specific and current answers the Swiss case offers to the main questions raised by wider federal research. This text will be of key interest to scholars and students in federalism and territorial politics, political institutions, local and regional government studies, multi-level governance and more broadly to European and comparative politics.
This volume presents the major findings involved in a large scale research programme to describe and analyse the transformation of contemporary Swiss society. The contributions focus on three key areas: the Swiss way of life, the Swiss labour market and the country's political institutions. The chapters give an idea of current trends in Swiss society, each one framing their argument in a comparative perspective.
This title offers readers an insight into one of the most sophisticated constitutional and political systems of the world. Very little has been written in English on the differenent levels of government.