Il federalismo nella Costituzione svizzera del 1874: un vero accentramento dei poteri?

Federalism in the Swiss Constitution of 1874: a true centralization of powers?

Abstract

The evolution in a centralized sense of Swiss federalism that occurred when the Federal Constitution of 1874 came into force, as a result of the total revision of the previous Constitution (1848), is a fact that is peacefully accepted in scientific literature. Starting from this premise and as a tribute to the one hundred and fifty years since that historical event, the article intends to examine in depth the nature of the increase in federal competences that took place on that occasion in order to better understand if that episode represented, in the context of Swiss constitutional history, a real centralization of powers in contrast to the traditional rules that have always governed the relationship between the federal authority and the federated entities. Summarized, for simplicity, in the sayings “everything in its own time”, “the best is the enemy of the good” and “virtue lies in the middle”, these “rules of balance” have in fact contributed to structuring and preserving the essence of Swiss federalism, giving it that distinctive pragmatism which, even today, distinguishes it from every other federal constitutional experience existing in the world.

Keywords: Swiss federalism; Centralization; Total revision; Cantonal sovereignty; Subsidiarity