For decades Switzerland has discussed far-reaching and fundamental reforms of its basic political institutions, while all the substantive proposals have failed, i.e. fiscal equalization, and constitutional and major governmental reform. There have been, in the 1990s, partial reforms, particularly in the cantons. This reform movement" - under the heading of New Public Management (NPM) - was mainly led by political and administrative practitioners. After ten years of pragmatic reform, it is time to assess the causes and consequences of these reforms.
The project conceives of the ongoing reforms as part of a process of transition from the interventionist, welfare state to the negotiating, enabling state, a pattern of development which has been diagnosed by systems theory, as well as by policy sciences. From this perspective, the project aims at comparing the reform endeavours of the Swiss cantons by asking four questions:
- What combination of parliamentary, governmental and administrative reforms are pursued by the Swiss cantons?
- What factors best explain the concrete shape of these reform projects?
- What consequences do the reforms have for the democratic process?
- How do the reform projects compare to reforms in other federalist countries?
To answer these questions, the project will establish an inventory of all the reforms in the cantonal parliaments, governments and administrations; analyse the causes and preconditions of the cantonal reforms; study in detail the preparation, the implementation and the democratic consequences in four case studies of cantonal reform; and finally, compare the findings with reforms in other federalist systems (Germany, Austria, Australia).
The project will make a major contribution to the knowledge base of the Swiss political system, in particular, with respect to its potentials for institutional change, which is one of the important preconditions for a successful adaptation to emerging global challenges.
