Institut für Föderalismus der Universität Fribourg

Institut du Fédéralisme de l’Université de Fribourg

SwitzerlandAn Illustration of Federal Principles

Dr. Nicolas Schmitt

SCIENTIFIC FORUM – DECENTRALIZATION AND SWISS FEDERALISM

4 September 2012 - Institute of Regional Studies, Pécs

Main theme :

How do principles of federalism in Switzerland contribute to the

peaceful co-existence of several minorities ?

1. What is federalism ?

Federalism refers to the advocacy of a multi-tiered government combining elements of

shared-rule (collaborative partnership) through a common government

and

regional self-rule (constituent unit autonomy) for the governments of the constituent units.

1.1. Notions : Federalism and Federation

1.2. This is not the Atomium in Brussels

Stability

Efficacité

Federalism

StateState State State State State State

Shared rule Self rule

Why Federalism ?

Efficiency

In modern times United States adopted a federal constitution in 1787, often regarded as the first modern federation.

Switzerland has transformed its confederation (which was founded in 1291) into a federation in 1848.

1.2. Very Brief History of this concept

Canada became the third modern federation in 1867.

In 1871 the North German Federation of 1867 was expanded to include South German States (but both do not survive so far).

Thirty years later, in 1901, Australia became a full-fledged federation.

In addition during the XIXth century some Latin American republics adopted federal structures as U.S. but these proved unstable (Venezuela, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina).

What about the XXIth century ?

- The world appears to be in the midst of a paradigm shift from a world of sovereign nation-states to a world of diminished state sovereignty and increased interstate linkages of a constitutionally federal character.

- There are at present some twenty-five countries encompassing over 40 percent of the world’s population that each exhibits the fundamental characteristics of a functioning federation.

very diverse Country…

2. What is Switzerland ?

Covering an area 41’285 square kilometres (225 times smaller than the United States) and located in the heart of Europe, Switzerland is home to 7’261’000 people

But, first of all , it is a …

Geographically, the country is divided into five zones.Switzerland has four national languages : German,

French, Italian and Romansch. In terms of religion, Switzerland is equally diverse:

Roman Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox Christians, Christian Catholics, Muslims and Jews.

All these institutional, political, geographic, linguistic and religious diversities, joined to the large spectrum of socio-cultural divergences, make of Switzerland a country in which almost every inhabitant represents a specific minority.

Swiss Diversity

3. Federalism in Switzerland

3.1. How did Switzerland emerge ?

Switzerland is the result of a very long aggregation and

centralization process …

As Egypt is “a gift of Nile”, Switzerland is “a gift of

history”

3.2 How did Switzerland 3.2 How did Switzerland emerge ?emerge ?

URISCHWYZ

UNTER-WALD

1291

LU1332

ZH1351

GL1352

ZG1352

BE1353

SO1481

FR1481

BS/BL1501

SH1501

AI/AR1513

Confederation of XIII Cantons 1798

NE1815

VS1815

GE1815

Multicultural Switzerland :Multicultural Switzerland :territorial territorial heterogeneityheterogeneity

Multicultural Switzerland :Multicultural Switzerland :Linguistic Diversity Linguistic Diversity

Eva SchmassmannEva SchmassmannLe système politique Suisse Le système politique Suisse 1717

Multicultural Switzerland :Multicultural Switzerland :Religious DiversityReligious Diversity

4.The influence of Federalism on the Swiss institutions :

three examples

The Legislative (a bicameral parliament)

The Executive (or Federal Council, a collegial government)

The process for amending the Constitution

4.1. A Bicameral Parliament

Federal Assembly246 Members

Council of States46 Members

National Council200 Members

The 200 deputies in the National Council are elected according to a standardized procedure, each canton representing an electoral district. The largest cantons have many deputies (ZH with 34 and BE with 26), whereas the smallest cantons (AI, AR, GL, OW, NW, and UR) have only one deputy.

Over time, there have been changes to how the 46 deputies to the Council of States are elected, as this responsibility has gradually been taken from the cantonal legislatures and given to the people.

The popular election of members of the Council of States implies that they are not “real” cantonal representatives.

The resulting need for greater cantonal representation was one of the reasons for the creation of the CdC (Conference of Cantonal Governments) in 1993.

4.2. A Collegial Government• The existence of a collegial government in Switzerland is a good illustration of the specificities of each federal system.

• United States, with its royal English background, opted for a presidential regime.

• Switzerland on the contrary, with its culture of diversity, has chosen a quite unique system of collegial Head of State encompassing seven members.

- This system derives from the French First Republic, more precisely the “Constitution de l’An III” (Titre IV, Art. 32).

- Paradoxically, this system failed quickly in France, but has survived in Switzerland so far.

The Federal Council

HEAD OF STATEPRIME MINISTERGOVERNMENT

HEAD OF THE ADMINISTRATION

• Cantons are not directly represented in the Federal Council despite the clause providing that the Council represents the geographical and linguistic diversity of the country.

• The Federal Council is a coalition government of four main national political parties.

• In 1959 the Federal Assembly opted for a political composi- tion that has become known as the “magic formula”.

• Its collegial nature allows minorities to be represented in the highest bodies of the Swiss polity.

• Yet this balancing of members of the Federal Council is less a constitutional obligation than a tradition, and candidates applying for a vacancy must satisfy several criteria relative to the seat to be filled (e.g., political party, canton, language, and gender).

4.2. A Collegial Government

PRESIDENTOF THE SWISS

CONFEDERATIONIS « ONLY »

PRIMUS INTER PARES

How does Switzerland deal with religion ?Human Rights + Federalism

Art. 8 Equality before the law 1Everyone shall be equal before the law. 2No one may be discriminated against, in particular on grounds of origin, race, gender, age, language, social position, way of life, religious, ideological, or political convictions, or because of a physical, mental or psychological disability. 3Men and women shall have equal rights. The law shall ensure their equality, both in law and in practice, most particularly in the family, in education, and in the workplace. Men and women shall have the right to equal pay for work of equal value. 4The law shall provide for the elimination of inequalities that affect persons with disabilities.

Art. 15 Freedom of religion and conscience 1Freedom of religion and conscience is guaranteed. 2Everyone has the right to choose freely their religion or their philosophical convictions, and to profess them alone or in community with others. 3Everyone has the right to join or to belong to a religious community, and to follow religious teachings. 4No one shall be forced to join or belong to a religious community, to participate in a religious act, or to follow religious teachings.

Art. 72 Church and State

 1 The regulation of the relationship between the church and the state shall be the responsibility of the Cantons.

 2 The Confederation and the Cantons may within the scope of their powers take measures to preserve public peace between the members of different religious communities.

3 ...

6. Swiss Federalism and Languages

Art. 70 Languages 1 The official languages of the Confederation shall be German, French and Italian.

Romansh shall also be an official language of the Confederation when communicating with persons who speak Romansh.

2 The Cantons shall decide on their official languages. In order to preserve harmony between linguistic communities, the Cantons shall respect the traditional territorial distribution of languages and take account of indigenous linguistic minorities.

3 The Confederation and the Cantons shall encourage understanding and exchange between the linguistic communities.

4 The Confederation shall support the plurilingual Cantons in the fulfilment of their special duties.

5 The Confederation shall support measures by the Cantons of Graubünden and Ticino to preserve and promote the Romansh and the Italian languages.

English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.