The Politics of Local Autonomy

Measuring Cantonal (De)centralisation in Switzerland

Bibliographic Data

ID12564994
AuthorsSean Mueller (0000-0003-4369-1449, University of Kent, corresponding author)
Year2011
Volume15
Issue3
Pages213-239
Publication date2011-12-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSpace and Polity (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1356-2576 • E-ISSN: 1470-1235
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13562576.2011.692579
OpenAlexW2116531009
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited51

In Switzerland, there are 26 systems of cantonal decentralisation because regulating municipal autonomy is an exclusively cantonal competency. Existing measures of local autonomy/cantonal decentralisation are confined to measuring the real or perceived distribution of functions. Alternatively, they weigh expenditures (Dafflon 1992 Dafflon, B. 1992. “L'autonomie fiscale communale: le cas de Fribourg”. In L'avenir de l'autonomie communale à l'aube du troisième millénaire, Edited by: Weibel, E. 25–43. Fribourg: Editions universitaires. [Google Scholar]) or tax revenues (Dlabac and Schaub forthcoming Dlabac, O. and Schaub, H.-P. forthcoming. The quality of democracy in the Swiss cantons: a dataset Institute for Political Science, University of Berne [Google Scholar]) of municipalities against those of the canton. Complementing these indices, this paper additionally measures the politics dimension of cantonal decentralisation. Seven aspects are measured: intra-cantonal regionalism, cumul des mandats (double tenure of cantonal MP and mayoral office), territorial quotas for legislative and executive elections, direct local representation and lobbying, party decentralisation, the number and size of constituencies, and direct democracy (communal referendum and initiative). This results in a ranking of all 26 cantons as regards the politics of local autonomy within their political systems. The measure will help scholars to test assumptions held for decentralisation in general, be it as a dependent (explaining decentralisation) or as an independent variable (decentralisation—so what?), within but also beyond the Swiss context

Autonomy · Centralisation · Context (archaeology · Decentralization · Democracy · Geography · Legislature · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Local Government Finance and Decentralization · Political Systems and Governance · Public Administration

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