Switzerland is a special and fascinating place. Its unique
institutions, its direct democracy, multi-member executives,
absence of strikes, communal autonomy, its universal military
service, its wealth, and four national languages make it
interesting in itself. But it has wider significance, in
representing the 'Europe that did not happen', the Europe that
escaped the centralisation of state and economy associated with the
modern world. Today, there is a new special feature. Switzerland is
an island surrounded by the European Union, and resists membership.
Why Switzerland? attempts to answer three related questions: why
has such an exception to European norms survived? Why should
outsiders notice its peculiarities and what can they learn from
them? Finally, can so unusual a society continue to exist when many
of the conditions in which it evolved have disappeared? Why
Switzerland?, which was first published in 1976, has been
completely revised (with new illustrations) to try to answer these
questions for the present generation.
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