Direct Democracy in Switzerland

by Fossedal, Gregory A.

• ISBN13: 9780765800787
• ISBN10: 0765800780
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-03-01
• Publisher: Transaction Pub

Summary

In Direct Democracy in Switzerland, Fossedal has developed a shrewd, sensitive overview of Switzerlandas high notion of statecraft. He details the reasons for studying Switzerlandas distinctive institutions, and explores the origins and development of the ancient Swiss democracy, which reaches back a thousand years. He shows how Switzerland handles the political questions common to all modern societies, such as education, taxes, crime, welfare, the Holocaust. He concludes with the ongoing debate over two very different visions of democracy, direct versus representative.

Author Biography

Gregory A. Fossedal is chairman of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, a research foundation based near Washington, DC. He is also president and chief investment officer of the Democratic Century Fund and its management company, the Emerging Markets Group. He is author of The Democratic Imperative Alfred R. Berkeley III is vice chairman of the board of directors of the Nasdaq stock market, Inc. Richard Holbrooke served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and assistant secretary of state in the Clinton Administration

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix
Alfred R. Berkeley III
Preface	xv
Richard Holbrooke
Part 1. Conception
Pilgrimage	3	(8)
Part 2. History
1291	11	(8)
Willensnation	19	(10)
Geodeterminism	29	(14)
Part 3. Institutions
Constitution	43	(8)
Executives Branch	51	(18)
Judiciary	69	(6)
Parliament	75	(12)
Referendum	87	(30)
Communities	117	(18)
Part 4. Issues
Education	135	(10)
Taxes	145	(10)
Crime	155	(16)
Welfare	171	(10)
Press	181	(12)
Family	193	(12)
Army	205	(8)
Switzerland Accused	213	(20)
Diversity	233	(18)
Part 5. L'Idee Suisse
The End of History and the Next Citizen	251	(20)
Bibliography	271	(8)
Index	279