Contemporary Switzerland : Revisiting the Special Case

by Kriesi, Hanspeter; Farago, Peter; Kohli, Martin; Zarin-Nejadan, Milad

• ISBN13: 9781403947987
• ISBN10: 1403947988
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-09-03
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

This volume presents the major findings involved in a large scale research program to describe and analyze the transformation of contemporary Swiss society. The contributions focus on three key areas: the Swiss way of life, the Swiss labor market and the country's political institutions. The chapters give an idea of current trends in Swiss society, each one framing their argument in a comparative perspective.

Author Biography

Hanspeter Kriesi is Professor of Comparative Politics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. Peter Farago is Co-Founder and Partner with Landert Farago Partner, a privately owned and operated social science research institute focussing on policy research and programme evaluation. Martin Kohli is Professor of Sociology at the European University Institute, Florence. Milad Zarin-Nejadan is Professor of Economics at the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	vii
List of Tables	ix
Notes on the Contributors	xi
Preface	xviii
Introduction	1	(8)
Part I The Swiss Way of Life
1 Relative Deprivation and Well-being: Switzerland in a Comparative Perspective	9	(29)
Christian Suter and Katia Iglesias
2 What Pluralization of the Life Course? An Analysis of Personal Trajectories and Conjugal Interactions in Contemporary Switzerland	38	(23)
Eric Widmer, jean Kellerhals and René Levy
3 Facets of Emotion Regulation in Families with Adolescents: A New Research Approach	61	(20)
Meinrad Perrez, Dörte Watzek, Gisela Michel, Dominik Schoebi, Peter Wilhelm and Yves Hänggi
4 The Impact of Social Inequalities on Personal Health	81	(24)
Monica Budowski and Annette Scherpenzeel
Part II The Swiss Labour Market
5 Long-Term Dynamics of Skill Demand in Switzerland, 1950-2000	105	(30)
Stefan Sacchi, Alexander Salvisberg and Marlis Buchmann
6 Information Technology, Workplace Organization and the Demand for Employees of Different Education Levels: Firm-Level Evidence for the Swiss Economy	135	(28)
Spyros Arvanitis
7 Young Adults Entering the Workforce in Switzerland: Working Conditions and Well-Being	163	(27)
Norbert K. Semmer, Franziska Tschan, Achim Elfering, Wolfgang Kälin and Simone Grebner
8 The Erosion of Regular Work: An Analysis of the Structural Changes in the Swiss and German Labour Markets	190	(31)
Andreas Diekmann and Ben Jann
Part III Political Institutions
9 Internationalization and Domestic Politics: Evidence from the Swiss Case	221	(18)
Pascal Sciarini and Sarah Nicolet
10 Reforming the Swiss Municipalities: Efficiency or Democracy?	239	(17)
Andreas Ladner and Reto Steiner
11 The Lost Dimension of Swiss Federalism: Democracy Problems of New Regionalism in Metropolitan Areas	256	(25)
Daniel Kübler
12 Sustainable Fiscal Policy in a Federal System: Switzerland as an Example	281	(16)
Lars P. Feld and Gebhard Kirchgässner
References	297	(32)
Index	329