ABSTRACT
To understand central and local government relations in Switzerland it is helpful not only to look at the structure of the territorial units and their organisation, but also to have a brief look back at history. A symmetric federalism and very autonomous municipalities offering far-reaching political rights to Swiss citizens were not given to the country from the outset. They had to be fought for and were not achieved without some foreign help. Nevertheless, both were perhaps the only solution to building a nation-state in such a heterogeneous and culturally divided society, and they still form important pillars of the Swiss political system. Today. Switzerland is a model case of Politikverflechtung (political cooperation between different levels of government) (Scharpf 1978) and multilevel government. And its actual reforms offer an insight into how municipal autonomy, federalism and the idea of subsidiarity can be maintained despite an increasing demand for efficiency and global steering. Time alone will tell whether this way of meeting the challenges of multilevel governance (Benz 2004) will prove to be successful.
