countries in the world. Despite the relative success of Swiss federalism, most federal countries follow the principles of coordinated rather than competitive federalism. Switzerland’s existence as a modern federal state dates back to 1848. The government is made up of seven members, elected by the Federal Assembly. The government members take it in turns to act as president. The Swiss people can influence political affairs through the highly developed system of direct democracy. Switzerland’s position as a neutral state allows it to play an important humanitarian role in world affairs and to act as a mediator between conflicting parties. Switzerland in its modern form came into being in1848. Until that time, Switzerland was not a real state, but a loose alliance of autonomous cantons whose degree of cooperation with each other varied from one period to another. Before 1848 the cantons were free to secede from the confederation if they wanted to. Switzerland's 1848 constitution made it into a federal state, giving it a central authority that counterbalanced and limited the power of the individual cantons. Since the Constitution of 12th September 1848, Switzerland has been, in institutional terms, a relatively complex system of three layers of government: (1) the communes, at the local level, (2) the Cantons, at the intermediate level and the Confederation, at the national level - which are interconnected by many vertical and horizontal relationships. At the end of this decade, there were 26 Cantons and 2903 communes. Fiscal federalism in Switzerland can be characterised in terms of overall fiscal restraint and minimising the centralisation of fiscal power. It is bottom-up Constitutional arrangements, both at the federal and the cantonal levels, “federalism. certainly explain this performance. The subsidiary principle - which recommends that competencies in the provision of public services should be vested to the lowest possible level in the fiscal hierarchy - has been probably more scrupulously respected in this country than in many other federations because of both constitutional guarantees and a traditional mistrust of global nation-wide policies. Four institutional characteristics are essential in the working of Swiss federalism: (1) the vertical division of power in the Constitutions, (2) direct democracy, (3) initiatives and referenda and (4) horizontal co-operation between governments at the cantonal and communal levels.
countries in the world. Despite the relative success of Swiss federalism, most federal countries follow the principles of coordinated rather than competitive federalism. Switzerland’s existence as a modern federal state dates back to 1848. The government is made up of seven members, elected by the Federal Assembly. The government members take it in turns to act as president. The Swiss people can influence political affairs through the highly developed system of direct democracy. Switzerland’s position as a neutral state allows it to play an important humanitarian role in world affairs and to act as a mediator between conflicting parties. Switzerland in its modern form came into being in1848. Until that time, Switzerland was not a real state, but a loose alliance of autonomous cantons whose degree of cooperation with each other varied from one period to another. Before 1848 the cantons were free to secede from the confederation if they wanted to. Switzerland's 1848 constitution made it into a federal state, giving it a central authority that counterbalanced and limited the power of the individual cantons. Since the Constitution of 12th September 1848, Switzerland has been, in institutional terms, a relatively complex system of three layers of government: (1) the communes, at the local level, (2) the Cantons, at the intermediate level and the Confederation, at the national level - which are interconnected by many vertical and horizontal relationships. At the end of this decade, there were 26 Cantons and 2903 communes. Fiscal federalism in Switzerland can be characterised in terms of overall fiscal restraint and minimising the centralisation of fiscal power. It is bottom-up “federalism. Constitutional arrangements, both at the federal and the cantonal levels, certainly explain this performance. The subsidiary principle - which recommends that competencies in the provision of public services should be vested to the lowest possible level in the fiscal hierarchy - has been probably more scrupulously respected in this country than in many other federations because of both constitutional guarantees and a traditional mistrust of global nation-wide policies. Four institutional characteristics are essential in the working of Swiss federalism: (1) the vertical division of power in the Constitutions, (2) direct democracy, (3) initiatives and referenda and (4) horizontal co-operation between governments at the cantonal and communal levels.