Switzerland/Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera

Abstract

Switzerland is a special case for students of nationalism. Here is a state which is not a homogeneous ‘ethnic’ nation (it consists of at least three ethnic groups, German, French and Italian), but has features of a ‘social’ nation, and certainly an ‘official’ nation.¹ This makes it similar to Belgium, and the similarity increases when one compares their political systems, for both are ‘consociational democracies’ based on decentralised federalism. There is also a similarity in the presence of separatist or autonomist nationalism. In Switzerland this is found in the Jura region, where autonomists and nationalists have been active for many years.