Switzerland: About Switzerland - Part 1

From ExecutivePlanet.com

An introduction

The origins of the Swiss Confederation as an independent state date back to 1291 and the federal republic's constitution of 1874 is still largely in place. The Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft [in German], Confédération Suisse [in French], or Confederazione Svizzera [in Italian] is a multilingual patchwork of 26 cantons. Six of these are French-speaking [in the south west around Geneva and Lausanne]. One is Italian-speaking [Ticino in the south] and one [Graubünden [German] or Grisons [French] in the south east] has a small Romansch-speaking community [Romansch is a group of Rhaeto-Romanic dialects spoken by less than 1% of the population]. The remainder are German-speaking [ca 64% of the total population of some 7.3m]. Each canton has its own constitution and legislative body responsible for local issues [and is effectively the most powerful tier of government] whilst the two chambers of the Federal Assembly wield power at a national and, mainly, international level. Switzerland is also divided into over 3,000 communes, which again have significant autonomy. Moreover, the Swiss enjoy a considerable degree of direct democracy in which referendums frequently play an important part.

Such a fragmented system of government that devolves almost everything to a local, even individual, level seems like a recipe for anarchy but this is not at all the case. Somehow the spirit of William Tell gives Switzerland a remarkable cohesiveness. Whereas Belgium, similarly a state of mixed languages and administrative complexity, survives by largely circumventing its interminable rules and regulations, the Swiss have become one of the richest peoples on the planet through hard work and, above all, consensus. In The Third Man Harry Lime may have dismissed hundreds of years of fraternal harmony as culminating in no more than the cuckoo clock, but peaceful neutrality has bred stability and stability breeds prosperity. The Swiss consensus is founded in common principles of civic responsibility and general welfare [Pflege], a [Protestant] work ethic, and a certain pragmatism that verges on crude self-interest. The latter manifests itself in the 'neutral' banking secrecy that has inevitably led to accusations of money-laundering but the obsession with supreme efficiency, quality and service has resulted in the conviction that 'Swiss is best.'

Consensus-building, balance and continuity are the key characteristics of a country that is the epitome of the universal maxim that 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it.'

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