The Oxford Handbook of Swiss Politics

Abstract

The Oxford Handbook of Swiss Politics provides a comprehensive analysis of the many different facets of the Swiss political system and of the major developments in modern Swiss politics. Its breadth offers analyses relevant not only to political science but also to international relations, European studies, history, sociology, law, and economics. The volume brings together a diverse set of more than fifty leading experts in their respective areas, who explore Switzerland’s distinctive and sometimes intriguing policies and politics at all levels and across many themes. They firmly place them in an international and comparative context and in conversation with the broader scholarly literature. Therefore, this edited collection provides a necessary corrective to the often rather idealized and sometimes outdated perception of Swiss politics. The edited volume presents an account of Swiss politics that recognizes its inherent diversity by taking a thematic approach in seven sections, an introduction, and an epilogue. However, by presenting new arguments, insights, and data, all chapters also make contributions in their own right. The seven sections are foundations (Chapters 2 to 7), institutions (Chapters 8 to 12), cantons and municipalities (Chapters 13 to 15), actors (Chapters 16 to 20), elections and votes (Chapters 21 to 23), decision-making processes (Chapters 24 and 25), public policies (Chapters 26 to 40); and three concluding chapters compose the epilogue (Chapters 41 to 43).