1 Introduction 2 Building a Multicultural Society by Political Integration 2.1 Introduction 2.2 The origins of modern Switzerland 2.3 Turning poor odds into good ones, or: factors that made Swiss nation-building a success 2.3.1 Economy 2.3.2 Pressure from the outside 2.3.3 Democracy and social values 2.3.4 Combining democracy with federalism 2.4 Religious and ethnic minorities: from coexistence to pluralism 2.4.1 Political Catholicism: From segmentation to integration 2.4.2 Multilingualism: Understandings and misunderstandings 2.4.3 Jura - The exception to integration 2.5 The challenges of socio-economic inequality 2.5.1 A working class without a homeland 2.5.2 From class struggle to economic partnership 2.6 Proportional representation: The universal key to power-sharing 2.7 The limits of Swiss pluralism - New challenges for integration 2.8 Conclusion 3 Federalism 3.1 Institutions 3.1.1 The Swiss interpretation of federalism 3.1.2 The division of powers between the federation and the cantons 3.1.3 Non-centralisation - Not decentralisation 3.1.4 Relations between the federation and the cantons 3.2 Federal elements in the decision-making process 3.2.1 Bicameralism 3.2.2 The people's and the cantons' vote 3.2.3 Local governments: The corner stone of the Swiss 'bottom-up' state 3.2.4 Citizens' self-administration 3.3 Federalism at work 3.3.1 Cooperative federalism: How federal tasks are implemented by cantons and communes 3.3.2 From federal deadlock arise cantonal experiments: Energy policy 3.3.3 Coping with inequality: The example of Swiss primary schools 3.3.4 Swiss federalism: solidarity is more important than competition 3.3.5 Dealing with separatism: The arduous birth of a new canton 3.4 The limits of Swiss federalism 3.4.1 Limits of implementation: Why some foreigners can buy real estate in Switzerland but others cannot 3.4.2 The weakness of federal authorities, or how a canton can deny human rights to its citizens 3.5 Challenges 3.5.1 Federalism vs. democracy: Why one citizen from Uri outweighs 35 citizens from Zurich, or to what extent is federalism compatible with democracy? 3.5.2 Urban regions - The forgotten dimension of Swiss federalism 3.5.3 The external challenge: Federalism in a period of globalisation 3.5.4 The internal challenge, or: Why do the Swiss want to preserve federalism References 4 Direct Democracy 4.1 Introduction: The vote to abolish the Swiss army 4.2 Insti