What is it about?
The connection between national identity and democracy in Switzerland. It shows that Switzerland, despite being multilingual, is not multinational nor is it 'post-national'. It is best characterised as a mononational federation, whose national identity is based on the notion of a multilingual civic Swiss nation.
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Why is it important?
Switzerland plays a crucial role in the debate on nationality and democracy because it is used as an example to support competing theses of the connection operates. We show that Switzerland cannot support two of these theses - the 'multinational' and the 'postnational' - and can only support a third one: the liberal-nationalist thesis. This has important implications for the future of democracy in the 21st century.
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This page is a summary of: The acid test? Competing theses on the nationality - democracy nexus and the case of Switzerland†, Nations and Nationalism, January 2011, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8129.2010.00453.x.
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