Aim: Decode Switzerland's institutional architecture and understand the functions and workings of the different pillars of the Swiss political system, as well as the issues at stake in the various reform initiatives currently underway. Understand the implications of the various institutions for the administration and for material policies.
Topics covered include:
The Swiss state: origin and development of the political system
Federalism
Cantons and communes
Parliaments
Governments (and concordance)
Direct democracy (and the legislative process)
2019-2020: teaching literature review, bibliographical management and citations class. Individual and group coaching and evaluation work.
2020-2023: Full course management alongside Alyssa M. Taylor
Background: Long characterized by great stability, the Swiss political-administrative system has begun to change at an accelerating pace. The course examines the ins and outs of these changes from the perspective of institutional policies, i.e. policies that define the political-administrative "rules of the game". The preferred level of analysis is the federal level, and the tools of analysis are those of administrative science and political science.
Goals:
Decode Switzerland's institutional architecture and its implications for the politico-administrative system
Analyze the structure and functioning of public administration in Switzerland, as well as current reforms in this field
Discuss the role of the federal administration in the Swiss political system, particularly in legislative processes
Target audience
Students in IDHEAP's Master's program in public administration
Employees of the federal and cantonal administrations
Political leaders
Journalists, interested observers of Swiss political life
Contents:
The State - history, development and administration
Federalism and the NFE reform
The cantons and communes
The system of government - concordance
Parliaments and federal legislative processes
Direct democracy
Cantons and communes are the pillars of Switzerland’s institutional order, as well as central elements of its identity. Federalism has traditionally stressed the importance of diverse and autonomous units on lower levels, often considered as the cradles of the country’s democratic ideals.
This relatively complex territorial structure of the country is currently confronted with numerous challenges. From an institutional point of view, the territorial divisions between communes no longer correspond to today’s cultural and economic realities. As to their means of functioning, the growing importance of criteria relating to efficiency, ever-increasing complexity and the international integration of public policies challenge communes and cantons in various ways.
This course highlights these challenges in a multidisciplinary manner. It aims to identify the characteristic traits of Switzerland’s brand of federalism, how it functions, its strengths and weaknesses, as well as the principal reform projects underway in the field of territorial governance (e.g. the repartition of tasks and fiscal equalisation, reinforcing collaboration between cantons). The course examines Switzerland’s communal system in the same way, with all its specificities: the small size of communes, their great diversity, plans for communal fusions, how they carry out public policies and their influences on their cantons and on the Confederation itself. An emphasis is also placed upon a comparative analysis of cantons and communes (e.g. structures, institutions, political party systems).
The course ends with thoughts about how Switzerland’s territorial organisation and the repartition of tasks might be reorganised.
Understand the structure and functioning of Switzerland territorial divisions;
Clarify the roles of the cantons and communes in the definition and implementation of public policies;
Identify the challenges facing Switzerland’s brand of federalism and its communes;
Analyse the advantages and disadvantages of collaboration between cantons or between communes;
Evaluate the pertinence of the reforms to territorial governance that are already underway or planned;
Understand the challenges created by urban agglomerations, regions and by the different solutions proposed;
Understand the concept of multi-level governance.
Students studying for the MAS in Public Administration (MPA);
Employees in federal and cantonal administrations;
Political representatives at all levels;
Journalists and other observers interested in Switzerland’s political life.