Immigrant minorities in Switzerland: Sociological, legal and political aspects

Author(s) : Hans-Joachim Hoffmann-Nowotny

Source : https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111681030-003

Abstract:

“As Stein Rokkan has rightly observed, Switzerland may be considered as a ‘microcosm of Europe’ (V: 1970). Her native population consists of four ethnic groups coinciding more or less with the four language groups. In spite of this considerable number of minorities, political scientists believe Switzerland to have one of the most stable political systems of present times. Almond’s hypothesis (1966, 259 if) that seg-mented democracies tend toward greater instability than homogeneous democracies has been refuted for Switzerland by Lijphart (1967), Lehm-bruch (1967a, 1967b), and Steiner (1970).”