Die entwicklung des föderalismus und der föderalismus - diskussion in der schweiz von 1874 bis 1964

Abstract

Before 1874 and after 1964, the evolution of federalism and related political discourses is well known. Between these years, however, stretches a terra incognita, which this political-historical essay tries to explore. This period was characterised by a steady shift of power from the Canton’s to the Confederation, resulting in the frequent re-grouping of federalists and centralists. Before the First World War, traditionalists from central and occidental Switzerland fiercely defended a confederalist vision. During the interwar years, things quietened down. The modern federal State organisation was no longer fundamentally questioned, and the debate focused on technical questions. The “geistige Landesverteidigung” (moral defence of the country against fascism) secured an enduring yet problematic place for federalism in Swiss culture by transforming it into the “unity in diversity” principle. After the Second World War, modernising forces resulted in the “executive and co-operative federalism” that we know today. © 2003 The Swiss Political Science Review.