An authoriative analysis of Swiss democracy, the institutions of federalism, and consensus democracy through political power sharing. Linder analyses the scope and limits of citizen's participation in direct democracy, which distinguishes Switzerland most from parliamentary systems. Central and Eastern Europe and all countries with minority problems could learn much of value from this study.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
'The real value of the book lies in its critical dissection of features of Swiss democracy that are frequently praised in theory but rarely assessed in practice. Linder shows that behind its apparent populist democracy lurks the power of interest groups. So he makes a contribution to thought about democracy which could have significant lessons for countries seeking to be democratic.' - G.W. Jones, Professor of Government, London School of Economics, University of London 'Given the furore about a referendum on Maastricht, Wolf Linder's book is a very timely one. He shows that referenda can have political affects way beyond those imagined by Bill Cash and Margaret Thatcher. So while Switzerland is not a model it encapsulates an alternative view of democracy about which we would do well to think.' - Clive C. Church, Professor of European Studies, University of Kent at Canterbury
Auflage
Sprache
Verlagsort
Zielgruppe
Für höhere Schule und Studium
Für Beruf und Forschung
Illustrationen
Maße
Höhe: 21.6 cm
Breite: 14 cm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-0-333-71562-8 (9780333715628)
DOI
10.1007/978-1-349-26045-4
Schweitzer Klassifikation
List of Tables - List of Figures - Information Boxes - Foreword - Introduction - PART 1: BUILDING A MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY BY POLITICAL INTEGRATION - Introduction - The Origins of Modern Switzerland - Turning Poor Odds to Good, or: Factors which Made Swiss Nation-Building a Success - Religious and Ethnic Minorities: From Coexistence to Pluralism - The Challenges of Socioeconomic Inequality - Proportional Representation: A Universal Key to Power Sharing - Limits of Swiss Pluralism: New Challenges for Integration - Conclusion - PART 2: FEDERALISM - Institutions - Federalist Elements in the Decision-Making Process - Federalism at Work - The Limits of Swiss Federalism -Challenges - PART 3: DIRECT DEMOCRACY AND POWER SHARING - Introduction: The Vote on 'Switzerland Without Army' - Institutions and the Historical Meaning of Direct Democracy - Participation in Direct Democracy - A Closer Look at the Referendum and the Initiative - Understanding the People's Vote - Power Sharing by Direct Democracy, or: How the Referendum has Changed the Political System - Conclusions - PART 4: COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES - On Direct Democracy -On Federalism - On Power Sharing and Consociational Democracy - Epilogue: Switzerland's Future After the Popular Vote on the European Economic Area - Selected Bibliography - Index
