Switzerland- politic decentralization and social capital

Inhaltsangabe:

Switzerland is recognized for its high level of direct democracy, citizens having the chance to participate directly in the process of decision making of public policies, to intend law initiatives, to amend ordinary laws or the Constitution, to submit referendums. Switzerland enjoys a strong federalism, with high degrees of decentralization at each of three federal levels. A high degree of political decentralization can boost social capital. The author intends in this Hausarbeit to observe if the level political decentralization in Switzerland is increasing the social capital, defined in terms of generalized trust, civic cooperation and social cohesiveness.

Outline:
Abstract
The Theory
The Research Design
Preliminary evidence
Results
Conclusion

Aus der Arbeit:

''Decentralization is currently promoted in many countries for improving the performance of local governance. Even that only 25 of the world´ 193 countries have a federal political system, their citizens form 40 per cent of the world’s population. The degree of decentralization differs from country to country, some having a strong federalism, other a weacker one. Switzerland is an example of a country with a long-standing tradition of decentralized system for many purposes, including the direct participation of the citizens in the political process. The freedom of the 26 cantons to organize their local politic process is guaranteed by Constitution for the population of around 7 million people. This permits the system to be responsive to local priorities and interests. The distance between the local governance and citizens is much shorter than that one between federal governance and citizens. Being closer to the citizens, local governance knows better the coordinates of the local status, as an indicator for the local problems, interests and needs, thus, being able to provide the best adequate public policies. The accountability and transparency in policy-making brings together the local government and the citizens, strengthening their trust in local politicians and their trust in each other. ''

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• Hausarbeit Nr. 38 : "Darstellung der Einschränkungen des täglichen Lebens in der DDR"
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