ABSTRACT
Subnational constitutionalism is significantly older than national constitutionalism in Switzerland. The new federal constitution simply added a new tier of government empowered to produce overriding law in enumerated fields. The cantons aggregating into one state had no intention to give up their various constitutional regimes or any other differences which were not inconsistent with the minimal standards of conformity necessary to cooperate militarily and economically. The fact that the cantons have their own constitutional systems and can amend them at will has been neglected but not challenged. Popular initiatives must comply with overriding law. In most cantons, it is up to parliaments, not courts, to review initiatives and declare them invalid in case of a violation of national or international law. The federal law on publications thus treats the cantonal constitutions as special: unlike all other cantonal laws, they are guaranteed by the Confederation and therefore must be officially compiled with other federal laws.
