Switzerland in Europe : cultural identity and models of direct democracy from a philosophical perspective

The article examines the origins and transformation of direct democracy in Switzerland and discusses this problem against the wider background of strong connection of Switzerland to the tradition of both Germanic and Romance culture. The political system of direct democracy has grown out of the need to deal effectively with linguistic, cultural and identity conflicts within multicultural societal matrix. I aim at examining how - out of the original confederations and the subsequent differentiation of the cantons - the very idea of a federation emerged. More specifically, how the culture of compromise became the standard modus operandi in Switzerland. In philosophical terms, the tension between the freedom of the individual, the canton, and democracy, the federation, i.e. between the individual and the collective, plays a key role here. The article consists of two parts. First, I tackle the problem of the mechanism of community building along the lines of Swiss formula of "unity in diversity." Secondly, I discuss how did the Swiss citizens internalise the idea of belonging to the community of the confederation established on the model of direct democracy.