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About this book
This in-depth study of the decision-making processes of the early 2000s shows that the Swiss consensus democracy has changed considerably. Power relations have transformed, conflict has increased, coalitions have become more unstable and outputs less predictable. Yet these challenges to consensus politics provide opportunities for innovation.
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Keywords
- Political decision-making
- political processes
- consensus democracy
- Switzerland
- power and conflict
- network analysis
- QCA
- Europeanization
- mediatization
- parliament
- government
- political parties
- interest groups
- conflict
- decision-making
- democracy
- Government
- Institution
- policy
- politics
- european union politics
Table of contents (12 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Reviews
'Is Swiss democracy still the slow-moving consensual model that Arend Lijphart described many years ago? Or have the European Union, globalization, immigration, the Swiss Peoples' Party, changes in bank secrecy regulations, and other factors transformed the political system into something else? In this major new book, three Swiss scholars, basing their analyses on hundreds of interviews and close examination of well chosen empirical cases of policymaking processes, show not only how Swiss democracy has been transformed, but why. It is an important and timely examination of, among other things, the impact of the EU on states that are not even members and the effects of immigrant-focused political parties not just on immigration policy, but on the workings of a nation's political institutions more broadly. It will be of interest to students of comparative politics, parties, direct democracy, and policymaking processes whether or not those readers hold a keen interest in the Swiss case itself.'
Prof. Frank Baumgartner, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
'Replication studies are very rare in our discipline of political science. This is why I am particularly pleased with this replication of my own study of the Swiss political system that covered its structure and functioning back in the 1970s. The present study shows how much Swiss politics have changed over the last thirty years and how political power has been rebalanced, at the expense of corporatist policy-making, and in favor of partisan politics, as well as bureaucratic and intergovernmental policy-making. But the present study is far more than just a replication of my earlier work. In addition to the changes in the functioning of this paradigmatic case of a consensus democracy, this truly excellent study also documents the variation of Swiss political decision-making across policy domains, and it assesses its overall character under contemporary circumstances: it suggests that, while drifting towards a form of 'imperfect' consensus, Swiss politics have become at the same time more uncertain and more innovative.'
Prof. Hanspeter Kriesi, European University Institute, Florence, Italy
'This is a splendid book demonstrating the power of sophisticated political analysis. Based on rich empirical data and a variety of methods, the authors provide compelling evidence of important changes in Swiss politics and policy-making. For scholars with an interest into the puzzling politics of Switzerland, this book is a 'must read'.'
Prof. Volker Schneider, University of Konstanz, Germany
Authors and Affiliations
About the authors
Pascal Sciarini is Professor of Swiss and Comparative Politics at the Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
Manuel Fischer is Researcher at the Department of Environmental Social Sciences at Eawag, Dübendorf, and lecturer at the Institute of Political Science, University of Bern, Switzerland.
Denise Traber is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Political Science, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
Manuel Fischer is Researcher at the Department of Environmental Social Sciences at Eawag, Dübendorf, and lecturer at the Institute of Political Science, University of Bern, Switzerland.
Denise Traber is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Political Science, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Political Decision-Making in Switzerland
Book Subtitle: The Consensus Model under Pressure
Authors: Pascal Sciarini, Manuel Fischer, Denise Traber
Series Title: Challenges to Democracy in the 21st Century
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137508607
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan London
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political Science Collection, Political Science and International Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2015
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-137-50859-1Published: 12 June 2015
eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-50860-7Published: 15 June 2015
Series ISSN: 2946-3416
Series E-ISSN: 2946-3424
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: IX, 291
Topics: Political Sociology, Democracy, Political Theory, Political Philosophy, European Union Politics, European Politics