Local governance in Switzerland: Adequate municipal autonomy cumintergovernmental cooperation?

Abstract

The main aim of this study is to examine how the mature [con]federation of Switzerland approaches local (municipal) governance. It first assesses whether local autonomy arrangement is adequate. The study then assesses how local governments utilize the mechanisms of intergovernmental cooperative bodies to address public service delivery issues that cannot be met by a single local government. In doing so, beyond a secondary data sources, the study has used different instruments of primary data collection, including key informant interview, in-depth interview, and in-house discussion with a group of pertinent experts from the Canton of Bern. The finding of this study reveals that local governments in Switzerland have adequate autonomy in the sense that they have constitutional rights to exist, freedom to choose owns’ political and administrative structures, select local leaders without coercion from the cantonal or federal leaders, and local public expenditure responsibilities match with locally raised revenues. Also, different intergovernmental cooperative bodies- inter-municipal cooperation, Swiss municipal association, Swiss cities association, regional conference and tripartite conference of agglomerations—have been utilized for addressing matters that couldn’t be met by a local government per se. This case study, therefore, contends that effective local governance is a function of adequate local/municipal autonomy and intergovernmental cooperation and consultation.