The Oxford Handbook of Swiss Politics

This volume provides a comprehensive analysis of the many different facets of the Swiss political system and of the major developments in modern Swiss politics. It brings together a diverse set of more than 50 leading experts in their respective areas, who explore Switzerland's distinctive and sometimes intriguing politics at all levels and across multiple themes. In placing the topics in an international and comparative context and in conversation with the broader scholarly literature, the contributors provide a much-needed counterpoint to the rather idealized and sometimes outdated perception of Swiss politics. The work is divided into thematic sections that represent the inherent diversity of the Swiss political sphere: following a detailed introduction from the editors, the parts of the volume explore foundations, institutions, cantons and municipalities, actors, elections and votes, decision-making processes, and public policies, with a three-chapter epilogue. Throughout, The Oxford Handbook of Swiss Politics presents new arguments, insights, and data, and offers analyses relevant not only to political science but also to international relations, European studies, history, sociology, law, and economics.

Patrick Emmenegger, Professor of Comparative Political Economy and Public Policy, University of St Gallen,Flavia Fossati, Assistant Professor for Inequality and Integration Studies, University of Lausanne,Sijla Häusermann, Professor of Political Science, University of Zurich,Yannis Papadopoulos, Professor of Swiss Politics and Public Policy, University of Lausanne,Pascal Sciarini, Professor of Swiss and Comparative Politics, University of Geneva,Adrian Vatter, Full Professor of Political Science (Swiss Politics), University of Bern

Patrick Emmenegger is Professor of Comparative Political Economy and Public Policy at the University of St. Gallen. His research focuses on the political economy of welfare and skills, labour market regulation, industrial relations, democratization, state building, the politics of taxation, and institutional theory.


Flavia Fossati is Assistant Professor for Inequality and Integration Studies at the University of Lausanne and at the Swiss Centre of Expertise in Life Course Research (CIR-LIVES). Her research interests include social and immigration policies, deservingness and welfare state chauvinism, and survey experiments.


Silja Häusermann is Professor of Political Science at the University of Zurich. She studies welfare state politics and party system change in advanced capitalist democracies. She directs the ERC-project 'welfarepriorities' and is the co-director of the UZH University Research Priority Programme 'Equality of Opportunity'.

Yannis Papadopoulos is Professor of Swiss Politics and Public Policy at the Institute of Political Studies, University of Lausanne and a member of the Laboratory for Analysis and Public Policy. His research concentrates on recent developments in Swiss policy-making and on the broader implications of governance transformations for accountability and democracy.

Pascal Sciarini is Professor of Swiss and Comparative politics and Dean of the School of Social Sciences at the University of Geneva. His main research topics are decision-making processes, direct democracy, Europeanization, and electoral behaviour.


Adrian Vatter is Full Professor of Political Science (Swiss Politics) at the Institute of Political Science, University of Bern. His research explores Swiss politics, federalism, direct democracy, consensus democracy, sub-national politics, and comparative public policy.

1. Introduction, Patrick Emmenegger, Flavia Fossati, Silja Häusermann, Yannis Papadopoulos, Pascal Sciarini, and Adrian Vatter
Part I. Foundations
2. Switzerland: A Paradigmatic Case of Political Integration, Wolf Linder and Sean Mueller
3. The Historical and Institutional Formation of Swiss Political Culture, Irène Herrmann
4. The Political Culture of Switzerland in Comparative Perspective, Markus Freitag and Alina Zumbrunn
5. The Structural Shifts in Switzerland's Economy and Society, 2000-2020, Daniel Oesch
6. Switzerland's Position in Europe and the World, Thomas Bernauer and Stefanie Walter
7. The Ideological Space in Swiss Politics: Voters, Parties, and Realignment, Delia Zollinger and Denise Traber
Part II. Institutions
8. Federalism, Adrian Vatter
9. Direct Democracy, Isabelle Stadelmann-Steffen and Lucas Leemann
10. Swiss Parliament, Stefanie Bailer and Sarah Bütikofer
11. The Federal Government, Yannis Papadopoulos and Fritz Sager
12. The Judicial System, Martina Flick Witzig, Christine Rothmayr Allison, and Frédéric Varone
Part III. Cantons and Municipalities
13. Cantons, Adrian Vatter
14. Swiss Municipalities, Andreas Ladner and Nicolas Keuffer
15. Metropolitan Areas, Daniel Kübler
Part IV. Actors
16. Federal Administration, Frédéric Varone and David Giauque
17. Political Parties and Party Systems in Switzerland, Andreas Ladner, Daniel Schwarz, and Jan Fivaz
18. Interest Groups, André Mach and Steven Eichenberger
19. Social Movements, Marco Giugni
20. Media and Political Communication, Regula Hänggli and Alexandra Feddersen
Part V. Elections and Votes
21. National Elections, Georg Lutz and Anke Tresch
22. Direct Democratic Votes, Pascal Sciarini and Anke Tresch
23. Digital Democracy, Fabrizio Gilardi and Alexander H. Trechsel
Part VI. Decision-Making Processes
24. Decision-Making Process, Pascal Sciarini
25. The Implementation and Evaluation of Public Policies, Andreas Balthasar
Part VII. Public Policies
26. Foreign Policy, Laurent Goetschel
27. Switzerland and the European Union, Fabio Wasserfallen
28. Swiss Security Policy and Politics, Andreas Wenger
29. Economic Policy, Patrick Emmenegger
30. Banking and the Swiss Financial Centre, Roy Gava
31. Infrastructure Policy: Transport and Energy, Fritz Sager and David Kaufmann
32. Education Policy, Anja Giudici and Patrick Emmenegger
33. Research, Technology, and Innovation Policies, Lukas Baschung and Jean-Philippe Leresche
34. Environmental and Spatial Planning Policy, Karin Ingold and Stéphane Nahrath
35. Migration Policy, Sandra Lavenex
36. Integration Policy, Anita Manatschal
37. Social Policy, Giuliano Bonoli and Flavia Fossati
38. Health Policy, Philipp Trein, Christian Rüefli, and Adrian Vatter
39. Family Policy, Silja Häusermann and Reto Bürgisser
40. Gender and Equality+ Policy, Isabelle Engeli
Part VIII. Epilogue
41. Switzerland quo vadis? Current Challenges and Potential Solutions for Swiss Politics, Rahel Freiburghaus and Sean Mueller
42. An Outside Perspective on Swiss Politics: How Successful is Switzerland's Political System?, Herbert Obinger
43. Chocolate Democracy, Daniel Bochsler