Despite Switzerland's small size, the Swiss political system is in many respects one of the most complex and fascinating among contemporary western democracies. It not only builds upon historical developments that started centuries ago, but the unique structure of its society, the richness of its political institutions, its complex political arrangements and the multifaceted pressures for reform constitute a laboratory for any scholar in the social sciences. Often presented as the paradigmatic case of political integration, consensus democracy, multinational federalism and direct-democratic decision making, the Swiss political system has become a benchmark case for analyses in comparative politics, political behaviour, European studies and related fields.

Surprisingly, however, social scientists and policy experts outside Switzerland rarely include the Swiss case in their comparative work. This is in large part due to the still (quantitatively) meagre research output published in English and the limited availability of data and sources on the Swiss political system. Of course, these two shortcomings interact and create a vicious circle. With the present introduction to Swiss politics, we hope to take a step towards bringing Switzerland into the mainstream of comparative work.

The present volume starts out with the development of the modern state and focuses on the process of state formation within the federalist framework. In addition, the introductory chapter discusses the ambiguous concepts of Swiss nationhood and Swiss political culture. Chapters 2 to 5 introduce the Swiss polity, the structures and institutions of the Swiss political regime.