Współczesny szwajcarski federalizm

The political system of Switzerland is unique and in no other country around the world exists a system which would be in the least similar to this one. The Swiss constitution and the governmental system are thought to be exceptional because of numerous unique solutions introduced. They include direct democracy, the collective, a particular kind of federal cantons connected with a long lasting tradition of a democratic country, often referred to as Sonderfall – “a special case". The unwritten elements of the political culture such as the political concordats or the everlasting aspiration to the balance of the rules of the public life make it difficult for the observers of the public life in Switzerland to understand its rules. Nevertheless, it would be a misunderstanding not to take into consideration plentiful elements of the state structures of Switzerland, which are similar or even identical to the systems of other countries. There can be found some resemblance of the political systems of Switzerland, the USA or the Federal Republic of Germany . Referenda or other social initiatives, which are so frequently used in Switzerland, are also applied, e.g. in many states of the USA. Moreover, concordats are a special form of democratic relations as the consensus democracy and have been examined by political scientists in 36 countries as an opposition of the majoritarian democracy.