ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how statehood and patterns of collective identity have historically evolved in Switzerland and how they interact in the contemporary Swiss system. It shows that a sense of Swiss nationhood emerged before the creation of a Swiss federal state in 1848 and that it survived the pressures of ‘linguistic nationalism’ in the latter part of the ‘long’ nineteenth century to become fully consolidated in the twentieth. While many features of the Swiss system today reflect the multi-lingual nature of its society, they also show rather clearly that Switzerland is not a multi-national federation. Subsequently, the chapter offers an explanation of why Switzerland, despite being multi-lingual and multi-cultural, has not become multi-national, by arguing that this is best explained by a complex interaction over a long period of time of a unique set of factors, both internal and external. The chapter then considers the challenges likely to face the Swiss system in the medium term and concludes by arguing that the characteristics of Swiss society and the strengths of its federal political architecture are likely to enable it to remain mono-national in the foreseeable future. I wish to thank Ferran Requejo for his constructive help in finalising this chapter and Clive Church for his very helpful comments on a previous draft of the chapter.
