El republicanismo en Suiza

Abstract

Notwithstanding the theoretical debate revolving around some participative aspects of its political philosophy, republicanism cannot present itself as a feasible alternative model to present liberal democracy. Switzerland, being the world's oldest republic, possesses centuries-old instruments of political participation, like referenda and legislative initiatives, whose function is not a marginal one but constitutes one of the main features of its political system. However, this political system bears, in its entirety, a strong resemblance to those of the Western world. Paradoxically, given the importance of its republican institutions, present Switzerland possesses a liberal-representative form of government in which the Federal Constitution establishes a typically liberal set of civil liberties, even when its particular political culture and certain institutions of republican origin designed to increase political participation confer the whole system a special trait.