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Switzerland on the Road from a Consociational to a Centrifugal Democracy?
Author(s) -
Vatter Adrian
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
swiss political science review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.632
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1662-6370
pISSN - 1424-7755
DOI - 10.1111/spsr.12203
Subject(s) - elite , democracy , typology , power sharing , political science , parliament , direct democracy , representative democracy , polarization (electrochemistry) , political economy , power (physics) , economic system , sociology , economics , law , politics , chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , anthropology
Can Switzerland still be classified as an example of consociational democracy, characterized by power sharing and elite cooperation, by the second decade of the 21 st century? Drawing on Lijphart's typology of consociational and centrifugal regimes, an analysis of the transformation of Swiss democracy reveals that while Switzerland continues to display institutional elements of power sharing, a polarizing and competitive trend can be observed in the governing style of the elite. Increasingly adversarial elite behaviour and a growing polarization within parliament and government as well as with regards to referendums indicate a growing shift toward centrifugal democracy.