Case Study 2

Abstract

Switzerland is a confederation of 23 states, called cantons, three of which are subdivided into half-cantons for administrative purposes. The powers of decision making are usually organised from the bottom upwards. In accordance with the ‘subsidiarity principle’, the Confederation only assumes responsibility for duties which the cantons are unable to carry out themselves. Thus the 26 cantons which make up the Federal State have a certain degree of sovereignty, and possess their own political institutions. Collegial government and therefore compromise are crucial factors in the political culture of the country. A number of years ago, cantons began, in co-operation with localities in other countries, to form regions which are primarity concerned with economic and infrastructural issues such as the siting of waste management plants. These regions as yet possess no political institutions of their own. One such region, Eastern Switzerland, comprising Schaffhausen, Uri, Zug, Zurich, Appenzell (divided in two), St Gallen, Thurgau, Glarus, Schwylz, Graubunden and Ticino, plus the Principality of Liechenstein, is the location for the case study outlined below.