Affiliation:
1. Institute of Political Science, University of Bern
2. Institute of Political Studies, University of Lausanne
Abstract
Abstract
This chapter looks at the five main political trends that have engulfed Swiss politics over the past few decades: alienation, centralization, digitalization, internationalization/Europeanization, and polarization. While they all reflect debates and developments found elsewhere, each poses a particular challenge for the consensual, direct-democratic, and profoundly federal Swiss political system. The first part of the chapter traces the nature and extent of each challenge and identifies the kind of problem it poses. Based on new and original expert survey data, the second part of the chapter then looks at possible solutions and reform options for the Swiss polity, its politics, and policy-making. We conclude by sketching two separate, yet inherently linked, paths that Switzerland may follow to accommodate these challenges: 1) changing the behaviour of political actors and 2) changing the institutional framework and the incentives it provides.
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