Why Switzerland is so well-run

We explore what is arguably one of the best run countries in the world: Switzerland

Our sincere thanks to Martin Bühler and Joelle Fiss for speaking to us:

Please support us on:

Wealth rankings

#switzerland #ireland #zurich #geneva #dublin #localism #politics

[polysee]

Correction at 10:09: We show Luzern when we should've shown Lausanne

[XDrSinusX]

This comment section is now declared neutral territory 🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭

[koantao]

As a former Swiss politician, I find this video really well done, though you maybe idealize Switzerland a little bit. However, one of our main pillars is the right for referendums and initiatives which is fundamental in keeping social peace.

[dgu]

most important difference is that being a politician is not a career in Switzerland. every member of parliament only does it part time, even on federal level. i think you misunderstood the swiss dude at 12:30. we have a very professional administration not parliament. there is a big difference. in switzerland there is no professional career in politics unlike in irleand like you mentioned

[Larrych]

What one might have missed is that usually, when taxes in a canton are lower, rent - or home prices are often way higher.

[callu]

I would certainly advocate federalisation in Ireland, as you said one of the main problems here is accountability.

[benmulvey]

A federated Ireland would probably make unification an easier sell in NI.

[Da__goat]

This is primarily due to the fact that Switzerland's governmental system is structured to be more of a loose Federation of Cantons. In fact, the Swiss were a legal Confederation for many hundreds of years. This effectively distributed a lot of power and local authority to the Cantons. In doing so, it truly proves Plato correct when speaking about how the concept of the City-State is truly the best way that one could govern.
This means that these independent cantons can set a lot of their own rules, but also that they are insulated from one another and have a lot of local cultures and autonomy. This is how you end up with some that have Romansh that is well spoken and some that have Italian as being well spoken. To go even further, the populations of these cantons are very small when compared to national divisions like those found in Russia, the USA, Germany, and Brasil, all nations that have a similar form of government structure. As a result of these small populations, it is very easy for everyone to come together and make a decision on things. The smallest US state by population, Wyoming, has about 600, 000 people, whereas California has almost 40 million. A single city, New York City, has nearly 9 million people and doesn't have sovereign home rule like what it would have if it were a canton in Switzerland. It would have several cantons. But that is part of my point. It is far easier to get 1, 000 people to agree than to get 1 million people that don't know each other.

[ekszentrik]

As a Swiss, this was eminently interesting. I think I learned almost as much about Ireland as an Irish who watched this vid did about Switzerland
Like mentioned, one thing that is an impediment to applying localism to Ireland is the dominance of Dublin, which doesn't have a parallel in Switzerland. One "suggestion" I have is that the dominance of Dublin however could be reduced if you cut away as much of its suburbs as possible and assign them to their own polities. In Switzerland this is represented by how the canton of Basel City is just the core of the city, while half of the population of the urban area actually resides in a different canton, Basel Countryside. While this wasn't some decision (the split happened in the 1830s, way before the urban area had grown so much), it still turned out to be a vehicle to combat centralization in that region.

[jeremiahreilly]

Switzerland is a confederation. There is a difference. Switzerland has direct democracy. Kanton Basel is the cultural and pharmaceutical center of Switzerland. You have the Arrow of Power backwards. In Switzerland citizens are not "given" a Big Say. Rather, citizens cede the minimal necessary power to the federal government to make things work. If the federal government makes a blunder, cantons or the citizenry step in to correct the blunder. "Subsidiarity" is the technical term for moving control to the lowest level. In the EU it is theoretical. In Switzerland it is simply the way things are done.

[tomdublin]

Really informative & well made. The point about the quality of politicians is crucial. All Swiss parliamentarians are part-time and thus bring their professional expertise to the job. Also, as you hint at, Swiss voters generally don't vote for former local beauty queens, Eurovision contestants, local publicans or estate agents. The average calibre of the political class is much higher.

[Alfermial]

It's interesting that neutrality is considered as similarity. This is when neutral Switzerland has 147, 178 active personnel in the army and compulsory military service for all males.

[SnazzBot]

I think this would be great for Ireland but sadly I can never see being implemented as the people in power would have to relinquish some of it.

[mahuhude]

Swiss are quite rooted to their home canton. They move during life much less than other nationalities.
It’s more that people feel a stronger commitment to smaller communities like cantons than people do towards larger populations of national states.

[jcdf]

Switzerland is well-run because it had to be in order to exist at all. It sits in the center of Europe like a giant naturally occurring fortress, possibly the biggest naturally occurring fortress in the entire world. A fortress no matter how big its battlements requires a large and well discipline garrison to keep from being expunged by powerful neighbours. Therefore the Swiz population is abnormally disciplined.

[Fezziekid]

Lots of key differences left out. Ireland was essentially monocultural (98% Catholic white) until very recently. Switzerland has always been very diverse (German, French, Italian speaking areas) making it much easier to pitch regions against each other. Like other countries in Europe, Switzerland has a lengthy history of bottom up industrial and scientific R and D, which no doubt has society-wide influences in terms of productivity and efficiency. Ireland was basically agrarian until Lemass, and our industry is taxation-linked end-stage manufacturing and sales with very little home-grown invention and innovation that might seep through to influence the political system.

[zurichcyclist]

Fun fact, when she was talking about Lausanne at 10:10, The video is actually showing the German-speaking city of Luzern.

[ThisIs-jc]

Direct Democracy run by the citizens and not some corrupt politicians.

[ath]

Ireland had a similar system in 1922 Free State constitution with citizens enabled referendums but 1937 constitution put the power in the political class and we have seen the damage that has done.

[UKMDI]

why did you use ai slop at 0:03 when a real image would have been easily available?