Tendance centralisatrice en Suisse depuis 1848

This paper enquires whether Switzerland has tended to centralize its federation since 1848, and if so what the causes of this are. The article first describes the historical background of federalism in Switzerland before 1848. The hypothesis is that since 1848, Switzerland has effectively tended to be more centralistic. To prove so, it compares the 1848 constitution to the 1999 constitution. Finally, it points out three different causal blocks spread out in three different time periods: the first one from 1848 to 1874, the second one from the late 19th Century to World War II and the last one from World War II to today.