Recent Developments of Swiss Federalism

Since the year 2000, Switzerland has had a totally revised constitution. The main changes deal with issues of federalism. Globalization has and will have strong centralizing effects, although localization might trigger emotional and nationalistic reactions within the different ethnic communities of Switzerland. The growing mobility of people and the important percentage of foreigners living in Switzerland (20 percent) are additional challenges to the already existing but constitutionally provided diversity. This article explains the new constitution within this framework of the modem world. In particular, it focuses on the specificity of Swiss diversity and the new balance between self-rule and shared rul