The gradual consolidation

We now turn to federalism, yet another fundamental institution that underpins the Swiss political system. As discussed in chapter 1, Switzerland's modern federal state was created in 1848 following the two consecutive collapses of the former Confederation. Similar to the transition from the Articles of Confederation to the Federal Constitution of the United States in 1787, the transition from the Confederation to the federal state in Switzerland was revolutionary in the sense that it abolished the unanimity principle and replaced it by a system of qualified majority for amending the supreme law. In both cases, this ‘federalist deficit’ – the unanimity principle for constitutional change – could therefore be overcome (Trechsel 2005). However, in 1848, the federal level of government in the newly created state was extremely weak, as the cantons were able to preserve significant parts of their power. According to Stepan (1999), Switzerland – together with the United States and Australia – fits into the category of ‘coming together’ federalism, where the creation of the federal state is based on a largely voluntary agreement. The creation of the Swiss federal state is based on the logic of relatively autonomous units that ‘come together to pool their sovereignty while retaining their individual identities’ (Stepan 1999: 23).