Abstract
Over a long period, Switzerland has time and again been held up as a model when new states have been formed or existing ones reformed. However, there are other commentators who regard Switzerland as being a special case that cannot be emulated in the search for a solution to nationality conflicts in linguistically, ethnically or nationally heterogeneous states.
Switzerland is no multinational or polyethnic, but a multilingual, polyglott country, in which four autochthonous languages are recognised as national or state languages. The country has the advantage that three of its languages are highly regarded culture languages in its large neighbouring states, which make it considerably for it to access the global market. The language groups of differing sizes (63.6% German, 19.2% French, 7.6% Italian and 0.6% Rhaeto-Romance) are clearly divided territorially, and the language boundaries have remained almost unchanged for centuries. The language difference has never been seriously politicised by being organised along ethnic or national lines. For the state structures and for constitutional law, it plays only an extremely minor role. Switzerland is a multi-cantonal state (with 26 cantons) and not a multi-national federal state (with four national member states). While most cantons are monolingual, three major cantons are bilingual, and one is even tri-lingual. Within the cantons, highly developed municipal autonomy guarantees the predominance of one language respectively as the language used in schools, churches and by the official authorities. Communication between the language groups is enabled by the fact that the Swiss are conversant in two, sometimes three, and in rare cases also four national languages. However, English is increasingly playing a role in commercial interactions as the first foreign language.
The party system is not oriented to the language groups, but to the differing worldviews and social attitudes of the population. An informal concordance democracy has created a permanent coalition among the four largest parties that has lasted for many decades, which guarantees proportional representation between the language groups, whereby minorities tend to receive preferential treatment rather than being disadvantaged.
Due to the high degree of politicisation and nationalisation of the language groups that began during the nineteenth century in most other states, it is not possible to emulate the Swiss way of organising peace between the linguistic groups. Large multi-ethnic states require a privileged language as the lingua franca for the state as a whole. However, elements of the linguistic peace in Switzerland can be adopted by a cooperative nationalities policy: the federalisation of historic areas and not of language territories, a high degree of municipal autonomy, and the recognition of all autochthonous languages as being equal.
This is the updated brief version, which has been revised in line with the concept of the lecture series “Political Issues Under Debate”, of the detailed study on the limited model nature of Switzerland for the 17 nation states in Eastern Europe that were created in 1991/1993, see Jahn (2008).
Lecture given on 3.12.2018.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
- 6.
Kann (1993, p. 457).
- 7.
Hanf (1990, p. 62).
- 8.
Herrmann (1994).
- 9.
Molt (1994).
- 10.
- 11.
Cf. Schieder (1992, pp. 316, 322–323).
- 12.
Advocates of the Swiss model were e.g. Julius Fröbel, Adolf Fischhof, József Eötvös and to a certain extent also Karl Renner, Havlin (2011, pp. 43–53).
- 13.
Tezner with a book from 1905 cited in Schieder (1992, p. 312).
- 14.
In the fifteenth century, the name of the “most aggressive and democratic” member of the union was adopted and used from then on to refer to the whole confederation; see Im Hof (1991, p. 34).
- 15.
However, in some cases the ethnic connotation is weakened by, for example, the distinction made between Russians (in the ethnic sense) and citizens of the Russian Federation, and also between Latvians and citizens of Latvia. “Russia” does not therefore just mean the land of the Russians. In the past, some East European minority languages also employed different terms to distinguish between state citizenship and belonging to a people. In German it was possible to speak of the (ethnic) Magyars or alternatively of the Magyar, Slovakian, and German Hungarians, and also of the German and Czech Bohemians.
- 16.
For the notions self-willed nation, state-nation and ethnic nation (or linguistic nation) see Jahn (2015, pp. 20–22).
- 17.
Article 116 of the Swiss constitution that was in force from 1938 to 1999 read: “German, French, Italian, and Romansh are Switzerland’s national languages. German, French, and Italian are declared to be the official languages of the federation”. In the new federal constitution from 18 April 1999, Article 4 reads: “The country’s languages are German, French, Italian, and Romansh”. It is noticeable that in the new constitution, the word “nation” and its derivatives appear only in phrases such as “National Council” or “national roads”, and have been removed from the preamble and from the characterisation of the languages. The sovereign is referred to as “the Swiss people” or “the people”.
- 18.
Under the influence of Italian fascism and German National Socialism, futile attempts were made to forge a political-legal entity out of the Francophone cantons, Reinhardt (2011, p. 429). At the same time, in 1938, Rhaeto-Romance was recognised as the Swiss national language, in defence against Mussolini’s efforts to incorporate the Swiss territories to the south of the central Alpine range, Zala (2014, p. 503, 513).
- 19.
Ethnic groups are therefore not regarded as being linguistic-cultural units and the family relations of past generations that they usually imply in practice. An official study published by the Swiss Interior Ministry points out that some Germanic groups (the Langobardians, the Burgundians) have adopted Romance languages during the course of history, and some Celtic and Raetian or Romance groups have adopted the German language, Zustand und Zukunft (1989, p. 12). More in detail Morerod and Favrod (2014).
- 20.
Although Article 1 of the constitution in force up until 1999 spoke of the “united peoples’ of the 23 cantons”, the expression “people” (Völkerschaft) of a “canton” has, like “nation” (which appeared in the old preamble) disappeared from the new constitution. In the new Article 1 there is a curiously illogical formulation: “the Swiss people and the cantons” (not, as would make more sense here, the peoples of the cantons, E.J.) are said to form “the Swiss confederation”.
- 21.
See Zustand und Zukunft (1989, pp. 144–149).
- 22.
On the creation and development of the Swiss cantons since the thirteenth century, see Wiget (2012), Reinhardt (2011, pp. 31–447), Im Hof (1991, pp. S. 21–105), von Greyerz (1991, pp. 7–119), Luck (1986, pp. 53–342) and Maissen (2010). On the popular presentation of the creation of Switzerland see Schweizerisches Nationalmuseum (2011).
- 23.
See Im Hof (1991, p. 50, 75).
- 24.
- 25.
See the striking change in the terminology used in Article 1 of the new constitution.
- 26.
The smallest canton, the city of Basel, has an area of only 37 square kilometres, and Appenzell-Innerrhoden, the smallest of those that are not simply urban areas, is only 137 square kilometres; this canton also has the smallest population, at 16,003 (in 2016).
- 27.
Article 3 of the Federal Swiss Constitution of 1999 reads: “The cantons are sovereign insofar as their sovereignty is not limited by the Federal Constitution; they exercise all rights that are not entrusted to the Union”.
- 28.
Cantonal competencies include the school system, the courts, legal measures in force in the communes, taxation, and important elements of civil law. On the relationship between cantonal and federal powers, see Steiner (1971), Gruner (1977, pp. 55–67), Gabriel (1983, pp. 20–24), and Linder (1999, pp. 138–141).
- 29.
See for example on the canton Bern Werlen (2000).
- 30.
For more details on this see Gretler (1989).
- 31.
Sixteen monolingual cantons only adjoin other cantons where the same language is spoken, i.e. there are only six monolingual cantons where a different language is spoken on the other side of the cantonal boundary. Zustand und Zukunft (1989, p. 20).
- 32.
Calculated from the figures given in Löchel (2017, p. 402).
- 33.
There are only three communes at the point where the German-, French-, and Italian-speaking areas meet, where the regional majority is in a local minority, and in the area that used to have a majority of Romansh-speakers there are a number of communes that have been extensively both germanized and italianized; see. In. Eidgenössisches Departement des Innern (1989, maps 1 and 17).
- 34.
Communal autonomy is much more pronounced in some cantonal constitutions than in others; for details, see Linder (1999, pp. 156–159). It contains, among other things, a provision to safeguard the existence of the commune, while at the same time allowing for associations of municipalities, as well as their own taxes and determination of the rate of taxation, whereby the communal taxes contribute to roughly one third of public expenditures. On the regulation on natuarlisation in the cantons, see Stadlin (1990, Table XX).
- 35.
The question asked was: “Which language do you think in and speak best?”
- 36.
- 37.
- 38.
The Romansh-speakers enjoy particularly high esteem in some respects, and are seen as the original inhabitants of Switzerland, a group of people speaking a language that only exists in Switzerland and is given a special lustre by its association with the Roman Empire.
- 39.
With these systematic considerations in mind it is necessary to make an analytic, and to some extent also a theoretical, distinction between research on polyethnic and multinational states and work on hybrid ethno-national states Jahn (2008, p. 59).
- 40.
Five of these dialects exist in written form—Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran, Vallader, and Putèr (the last two are known collectively as Ladin).
- 41.
There were a number of unsuccessful earlier standardisation attempts in the second half of the nineteenth century and again in the 1960s (Leza Uffer’s “Interromansh”); see Schläpfer (1982, pp. 284, 300).
- 42.
It is related only to a limited extent to the Dolomite Ladin and Friaulian languages spoken in Northern Italy. Its relationship to other Romance languages such as French and Italian is even more distant.
- 43.
- 44.
There are, however, considerable differences between the dialects, even within Bern canton: “It is said that there are German-speaking members of the cantonal parliament who, in order to gain a clearer understanding of what their colleagues from Häslital, Saanenland, or Grindewald are saying, are relieved to be able to rely on the simultaneous translation—into French!” Stadlin (1990, p. 235).
- 45.
Among the less important of these is the fact that a movement campaigning for the recognition of “Schwyzertüütsch” as the fifth national language has been launched. This movement is unlikely to achieve its goal, not least because of competition between different dialects in the struggle for recognition as a new Swiss written language. See Zustand und Zukunft (1989, p. 164).
- 46.
Bundesamt für Statistik (2000, p. 419).
- 47.
See Schläpfer (1982, p. 180).
- 48.
Bundesamt für Statistik (2000, p. 419).
- 49.
The governments of the three neighbouring states have only supported or made irredentist claims to Swiss territory in certain periods—during and after the French Revolution, during the Fascist period in Italy, and during the Nazi period in Germany.
- 50.
Luck (1986, p. 396).
- 51.
- 52.
See Im Hof (1991, p. 134).
- 53.
Of the 2973 communes in Switzerland, there were in 1980 only three German-speaking local enclaves in French-speaking areas and two in Ticino, plus one French-speaking commune in the German-speaking area. In total, then, there were (in addition to many Romansh-speaking communes) only six communes located outside a self-contained language area; see Eidgenössisches Departement des Innern (1989), explanatory notes to Map 1.
- 54.
See for a breakdown of the statistics to the communal level Eidgenössisches Departement des Innern (1989), maps 2–6, and for changes in the makeup of the population between 1950 and 1989 see maps 7–11 (no page numbers). It can be seen from these statistics that there are at least a few German-Swiss living in all but six of the almost 3000 Swiss communes, and that there are French- and Italian-speaking Swiss citizens or foreigners living in the overwhelming majority of the communes.
- 55.
- 56.
For the details see Zustand und Zukunft (1989, pp. 30–35). The proportion of the total population accounted for by the majority language group, i.e. the German-speakers, has declined slightly as the Italian-speakers have increased as a result of the increase in immigration from Italy. There was a slight increase in the proportion of German-speakers, as a proportion of citizens, until 1970.
- 57.
See Bonjour (1970–1978).
- 58.
The only exceptions being attempts to reromanise the areas where there was a Romansh-speaking majority until a few decades ago.
- 59.
- 60.
Schläpfer (1982, p. 54).
- 61.
See Tscharner (2000).
- 62.
See the list of these organisations in Switzerland, along with a characterisation of their political goals, in Eidgenössisches Departement des Innern (1989, pp. 106–108).
- 63.
Of the total population, 46.1% are Roman Catholics, 40% Protestants, 1% Orthodox, 2.2% Muslims, and 7.4% are members of no church Bundesamt für Statistik (2000, pp. 421–422). At the end of 2010, among permanent residents aged 15 and over, 38.6% were 38.6% Roman Catholics, 28% Protestants, 4.5% Muslims, 0.2% Jews and 20.1% members of no church, Bundesamt für Statistik (2013, p. 25).
- 64.
The ratio of Protestant to Roman Catholic German-Swiss is 57:43, and that of Protestant to Roman Catholic French-Swiss is 46:54. The Romansh-speakers are also divided along confessional lines, 32:68. The Italian speakers are almost exclusively—95%—Roman Catholic. These ratios are calculated on the basis of figures given in Eidgenössische Volkszählung 1990 (1997, Thematische Tabellen, p. 2).
- 65.
Eidgenössische Volkszählung (von 1990) (1993, Geographische Tabellen, p. 2).
- 66.
Responding to a question on this point, the following percentages of the language groups described themselves as monolingual: 65.4% of the German-speakers, 43.4% of the French-speakers, 27% of the Italian-speakers, 20.3% of the Romansh-speakers, and 2.1% of the English-speakers; see Bundesamt für Statistik (2000, p. 419). At the end of 2010, 83.9% of the population defined itself as being monolingual, Bundesamt für Statistik (2013, p. 25).
- 67.
In their answers to questions asked in the examination taken by all new recruits entering national service in 1984, no more than about one third of all young Swiss men of all social strata said they were reasonably competent in another national language in respect of understanding (understanding the spoken and written forms of the language), writing, and speaking it. Recruits from Ticino and Graubünden had above average competence in foreign languages. 29.4% of the German-speakers were fairly competent in French, and 25.5% of the French-speakers were fairly competent in German; the figures for their competence in English were similar. The Italian-speakers, on the other hand, were distinguished by their high level of competence in French (59.3%) and German (29.9%), though fewer of them (16.8%) spoke English. Of those who had grown up speaking a different mother tongue, the figures for those with a good or at least some level of competence in German, French, and Italian were 67.4%, 79.8%, and 36.8% respectively. See Eidgenössisches Departement des Innern (1989, pp. 20, 35, 36).
- 68.
Zustand und Zukunft (1989, p. 299).
- 69.
Bundesamt für Statistik (2000, p. 418).
- 70.
Bundesamt für Statistik (2000, p. 301); see also pp. 259ff, where there is mention of the “dismal prospect that English could become the language the Swiss use to communicate with each other”. Ebenda, S. 301, vgl. S. 259f, wo von der “düsteren Möglichkeit einer weitgehenden Dominanz des Englischen als Sprache der Schweizer untereinander” gesprochen wird. Indeed, English does not yet appear to play a key role in communication among the Swiss, at least according to Haas (2010, p. 41).
- 71.
Bundesamt für Statistik (2000, pp. 303–305).
- 72.
Dürmüller (1989, p. 9).
- 73.
However, no corresponding provision was added to the language law of 2007, Späti (2015, p. 119).
- 74.
- 75.
Eidgenössisches Departement des Innern (1989, p. 3).
- 76.
It is still the case that very few people are completely fluent in two or more languages; such individuals are almost always people whose parents come from different language groups or who moved at an early age from one language area to another. Children of bilingual parents frequently grow up as monoglots, so that there is almost no increase from one generation to the next in the number of bilingual individuals. One should not forget that there are numerous transitional stages between some degree of competence in a foreign language and bilingualism, extending from a limited capacity to understand the spoken and written forms of the language to a word-perfect ability to speak and write the language; on this point see Gretler (1989, pp. 35–36).
- 77.
There are only a few towns and rural communes in Switzerland where larger minorities have a chance of being taught in their mother tongue. There is no uniform legal provision specifying the minimum size such a minority would have to reach; the decision is more or less in the hands of the canton or commune.
- 78.
“Federalism is therefore regarded as one of the fundamental reasons why identification processes tend to run along cantonal or even municipal lines, rather than on the basis of language boundaries”, Späti (2015, p. 40).
- 79.
On this aspect of nationalism see the contribution by Hroch (2008).
- 80.
It appears that there has not yet been any detailed analysis of the available data on the shifts in the size of different language communities within the Swiss communes.
- 81.
Linder (1999, pp. 354–356).
- 82.
Steiner-Khamsi (1989, p. 91).
- 83.
- 84.
The only regional party is the Lega dei Ticinesi, which in 1995 had one MP in the 200-member National Council.
- 85.
- 86.
See Im Hof (1991, p. 124).
- 87.
Gabriel (1993, p. 154).
- 88.
It is quite possible for a cantonal party to oppose the policy of the federal party. In some circumstances a federal party can, as a consequence of the principle of the individual responsibility of the federal ministries (departments), attack a minister (a member of the Federal Council) who is a member of another governing party, and so indirectly attack the government of which it is a part. And finally, as the governing coalition is not committed to any joint government programme, there is scope for opposition within the government. Steiner (1971, pp. 82–85).
- 89.
Stadlin (1990, p. 433). The report published by the Interior Ministry’s commission, which has already been mentioned, even proposed that in future there should always be a Romansh-speaker on the bench of the Federal Court.
- 90.
The fact that this “trench” was named after a Swiss way of cooking potatoes can be seen as an attempt to find a linguistically and emotionally milder way of referring to certain social and political confrontations that were in themselves very serious and heated.
- 91.
See Hanf (1991).
- 92.
In the West European debate on the future of the European Union, on the other hand, federalism is still seen—especially in the UK—as a dubious instrument whose purpose is to create an unwanted concentration of state power and centralized statehood.
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Jahn, E. (2020). Switzerland: A Model for the Regulation of Relations Between Ethnic and National Groups in Multilingual States?. In: War and Compromise Between Nations and States. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34131-2_13
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