Why Switzerland? (Hardcover, 2nd Revised edition)

Switzerland's unique institutions, direct democracy, multi-member executives, absence of strikes, communal autonomy, universal military service, wealth, and four national languages make it interesting in itself. But it has wider significance, in representing the Europe that did not happen, the Europe that escaped the centralization of state and economy associated with the modern world. Today, there is a new special feature. Switzerland is an island surrounded by the European Union, and resists membership. This study attempts to answer three related questions: why has such an exception to European norms survived? Why should outsiders notice its peculiarities and what can they learn from them? Finally, can so unusual a society continue to exist when many of the conditions in which it evolved have disappeared? The text analyzes the structures that make Switzerland work, and provides a concise working model for the visitor or student. Linking an analysis of the micro-economy to the major features in politics, history, religion and language, it shows how a bottom-up society has survived in a world of top-down states.