1. Backround The current constitution of BiH is based on Annex IV of the Dayton Peace Agreement and does not provide an adequate framework for a prosperous future of BiH. Switzerland is strongly supporting the process of constitutional reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2005. The support was implemented in the frame of programs called “Platform Bosnia and Herzegovina: Contribution to Constitutional Changes”. Till now, two phases were implemented (Phase I and Phase II) and a third phase is planned to be implemented in the period August 2008 – August 2010. The previous phases were implemented with the vision of citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina aware of the need for and supportive to the process of constitutional reform as one of the principal conditions for development of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Programs were tailored to achieve sustainable sensibility over constitutional issues of wider public, especially local communities; support for local actors in the process of constitutional changes; network approach and promotion of political culture (dialogue and participation) in the context of the constitutional reform debate. With the signature of the “Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA)” in June 2008, BiH faces a complex reform process in order to comply with EU standards. Without constitutional changes numerous reform steps will practically be impossible. Certain progress in BiH has been achieved, but some very important problems as political divisions vs. reconciliation or differing views on the role of the state and the relation between the state and the entities and their functioning are still unresolved. In response to these issues, SDC’s new initiatives in the third phase attempts to overcome the difficulties, bringing together the main domestic actors, authorities and civil society. The project will address three additional dimensions: 1) support und facilitation of demand-driven activities, and contribution to institutional capacities 2) collaboration with upper level of government/institutions and 3) regional/inter-municipal level while the previous two phases tracked a decentralised, local approach. 2. Objectives of the project components (Zentrum für Demokratie Aarau) 1) Capacity building of BiH Parliamentary members (MP) and other politically relevant stakeholders is built up, in order to facilitate power sharing with special emphasis on consensus making and strengthening institutional processes and decision-making: • An “Advisory Group” consisting of the chief councillors of the man party leaders in constitutional matters is set up. This provides a basis for building a political consensus, culture of dialogue and exchange of experiences between the Swiss, international and BiH experts; • Expertise/workshop for BiH MPs and key political party advisors dealing with the issues of power sharing and consensus-making in the context of constitutional changes are organized 2) Basic knowledge about the constitution and its meaning is improved among future leaders, in particular within young academics and master students. The emphasis is on the development of students’ capability to critically analyse ways of designing mutual comprehension in a divided society: • University course for future decision-makers on democratic institutions for plural societies is provided 3) Capacity of civil society exponents is built up through exchange visits in Switzerland, enabling them to report neutrally and with good background knowledge on constitutional reform incorporating their informed opinion into the process of reform building: • Working excursion to Switzerland for high profile journalists and opinion leaders is provided • Quality of media coverage of constitutional reform process is increased • Citizens access to proper information on constitutional reform process is improved • Opinion leaders learn about the functioning of local authorities in multilingual settings in Switzerland
Alle -Gemeinden stehen ein für eine nachhaltige Entwiclung – dennoch wird überall ins Grüne gebaut und zersiedelt. Ziel des Projekts ist die Darstellung der politischen und institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen für die räumliche Entwicklung in der . Es stellt sich dabei die Frage, welche Themen auf Gemeindeebene und welche besser auf interkommunaler Ebene bearbeitet werden. Die Ergebnisse dieser Untersuchung sollen in einem Workshop mit VertreterInnen der Gemeinden zurück in die Region fliessen. Besteht ein Zusammenhang zwischen der politischen Landschaft und den baulichen Aktivitäten einer Gemeinde? Unterstützen die kantonalen und nationalen Bestimmungen die Region in ihrem Kampf gegen die Zersiedlung? Mit welchen Massnahmen liesse sich der Zersiedlung wirksam entgegentreten?
Das Forschungsprojekt hat zum Ziel, ein Instrument zu entwerfen, mit welchem die Qualität der Demokratie in den Schweizer Kantonen gemessen werden kann. Die Frage nach Demokratiequalität und deren Messung gewinnt insbesondere im Rahmen der Debatten um Globalisierung und Internationalisierung der Politik sowie der zunehmenden Legitimationskrise des demokratischen Staates an Bedeutung. Dabei stehen subnationale Einheiten im Fokus, da diese insbesondere in föderalistischen Staaten dem Standortwettbewerb ausgesetzt sind. Mit der zunehmenden Internationalisierung der Politik geht zudem auch eine Rückbesinnung auf unmittelbarere Politikbeteiligung einher. Hier bilden die Kantone den primären Handlungsrahmen für mehr Bürgernähe. Die in der Literatur zur Krise der Demokratie prominent debattierte Beobachtung der Legitimationskrise macht schliesslich auch vor subnationalen Einheiten nicht halt: politische Apathie, abnehmendes politisches Vertrauen und schwindende Unterstützung des politischen Systems lassen sich auch auf regionaler Ebene ausmachen und mindern so auch die Qualität kantonaler Demokratien. Es dürfte deshalb von Interesse sein, die Kantone hinsichtlich ihrer Demokratiequalität zu beurteilen.
Die lokale und regionale politische Steuerung ist sowohl in der Schweiz als auch in den meisten anderen europäischen Ländern im Wandel begriffen. Es haben sich über die letzten Jahre und Jahrzehnte neue politische Steuerungsstrukturen herausgebildet, die vermehrt auf freiwilliger, zweckorientierter Kooperation und dem stärkeren Einbezug gesellschaftlicher und wirtschaftlicher Akteure aufbauen – was in der sozialwissenschaftlichen Literatur unter dem Begriff Governance diskutiert wird. Die vorliegende Abhandlung nimmt Bezug auf die aktuelle Debatte zur demokratischen Qualität neuer Governance-Strukturen und analysiert die Auswirkungen solcher lokalen und regionalen Arrangements auf die städtische Demokratie. Als forschungsleitende Thesen stehen sich dabei eine optimistische und eine pessimistische Perspektive zu Governance und Demokratie gegenüber. Der Fokus der Untersuchung liegt auf der Rolle der lokalen Parlamentarierinnen und Parlamentarier, welche in der bisherigen wissenschaftlichen Governance-Forschung weitgehend vernachlässigt wurden. Anhand ihrer Wahrnehmung der politischen Vorgänge, ihrem Einfluss in neuen Steuerungsstrukturen sowie ihrem politischen Handeln wird die demokratische Verankerung lokaler und regionaler Governance-Institutionen beurteilt. Die Daten hierzu stammen aus einer umfassenden, schweizweiten Befragung der Stadtparlamentsmitglieder, die im Jahre 2008 im Rahmen der vorliegenden Dissertation durchgeführt wurde.
The EU Profiler, the first Europe-wide voting advice application (VAA), is the work of a consortium of institutions in Italy, The Netherlands and Switzerland. The EU Profiler consortium consists of the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence, the Amsterdam-based company Kieskompas and the NCCR Democracy (University of Zurich/Zentrum für Demokratie Aarau)/Politools network. The project is led by the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS), part of the European University Institute (EUI) and is developed under the auspices of the EUI-based European Union Democracy Observatory (EUDO). Project leader Professor Alexander H. Trechsel at the EUI oversees the contribution of more than 120 academic collaborators from across Europe. The overall development is overseen by a Steering Committee that consists of representatives of the developing institutions and other Political Science Professors. Technical expertise is provided by Kieskompas who have previously delivered profiling tools for (among others) the Belgian and Dutch national elections of 2007, the American Presidential Election of 2008 and the Israeli general election of 2009. Additionally the NCCR Democracy (University of Zurich/Zentrum für Demokratie Aarau) offers in close cooperation with the Politools network (owner and developer of VAAs in several European countries) scientific input, as well as practical experience and in-depth knowledge of developing specialized VAA-features. The three partner institutions jointly finance the project, with the acknowledged support of the Max Weber Fellow Programme at the EUI. Apart from the conceptualisation and the technical development of the EU Profiler, so-called “Country Teams” were responsible for researching and ‘coding’ the political parties featured in the tool, as well as carrying out the groundwork that made this tool possible. The Country Team members are mostly political scientists at a doctoral and post-doctoral level and are experts in the party politics of their home countries. Their work is the backbone of the project, meticulously consulting and researching each party and finding evidence of their policy positions. The majority of Country Teams members are affiliated with the EUI, but several collaborators are based in other parts of Europe. Please see the “colophon” in the tool for further details on the people involved in the project. In practical terms the development of this tool has involved the accumulation of data from nearly 300 political parties representing 34 different countries and regions in Europe. Working in more than 20 different languages with team members spread across the continent it is a ground-breaking multi-disciplinary project that has brought together a wide range of experts in a variety of fields.
Le plurilinguisme de l’administration fédérale repose sur un large consensus et contribue à la paix des langues en Suisse. Sa mise en oeuvre pratique date de la fin des années 90, mais elle n’a pas encore fait l’objet d’une étude scientifique. Les études politologiques réalisées jusqu’ici ont porté sur la représentation des trois, voire quatre groupes linguistiques par rapport à leur poids démographique, leur importance nationale pour l’État multiculturel ainsi que les relations entre les groupes linguistiques. Ce projet se penche sur la représentativité linguistique du personnel fédéral, ainsi que sur les relations, dans la pratique, entre les employés de la Confédération appartenant aux différents groupes linguistiques. Le projet inclut la perception que les cantons des trois régions linguistiques de la Suisse ont de la politique des langues. Il propose également une comparaison avec l’administration canadienne, elle aussi plurilingue. L’étude vise à réunir des informations systématiques sur la mise en oeuvre du plurilinguisme dans l’administration fédérale. Pour ce qui est des critères quantitatifs, elle tiendra compte de l’égalité des chances des minorités linguistiques ainsi que des facteurs culturels apportés par les collaborateurs selon leur appartenance linguistique. Des études de cas qualitatives viendront compléter les données quantitatives récoltées par l’Office fédéral du personnel dans ce domaine et fourniront, combinées aux connaissances réunies sur la pratique des cantons et la comparaison avec l’administration cana dienne, une contribution à la réflexion sur le plurilinguisme dans les administrations. Deutsche Zusammenfassung: Die Mehrsprachigkeit der Bundesverwaltung basiert auf einem breiten Konsens und trägt zum nationalen Sprachfrieden der Schweiz bei. Neue Regelungen bezüglich der Umsetzung der Mehrsprachigkeit in der Bundesverwaltung traten gegen Ende der 90er Jahre in Kraft, wurden aber noch nicht wissenschaftlich untersucht. Die politologischen Untersuchungen galten bisher der linguistischen Vertretung der drei, resp. vier Sprachgruppen im Verhältnis zu ihrem jeweiligen demographischen Gewicht, ihrer nationalen Bedeutung für den multikulturellen Staat sowie den Beziehungen zwischen den Sprachgruppen. Im Rahmen dieses Projekts sollen sowohl die Repräsentativität der verschiedenen Sprachgruppen beim Bundespersonal erhoben als auch die Beziehungen zwischen den Bundesangestellten unterschiedlicher Sprachgruppen in der Praxis untersucht werden. Das Projekt schliesst die sprachpolitische Wahrnehmung aus der Sicht der Kantone in allen drei Sprachregionen mit ein; zusätzlich wird ein Vergleich mit der mehrsprachigen kanadischen Verwaltung vorgenommen. Die Studie soll systematische Kenntnisse zur Umsetzung der Mehrsprachigkeit in der Bundesverwaltung beschaffen. Bei den quantitativen Kriterien werden die Chancengleichheit der sprachlichen Minderheiten berücksichtigt sowie die kulturellen Faktoren, welche die Mitarbeitenden je nach Sprachzugehörigkeit einbringen. Qualitative Fallsutdien ergänzen die quantitativen Daten des Eidgenössischen Personalamtes in diesem Bereich und sollen mit dem gewonnenen Wissen um die Praxis in den Kantonen sowie mit einem Vergleich aus der kanadischen Verwaltung einen Beitrag zur Reflexion über die Mehrsprachigkeit in Verwaltungen leisten.
In 2001 the Federal government defined a new set of goals for the development of Switzerland’s metropolitan areas (“Agglomerationspolitik”). Due to the rules of Swiss federalism, the Confederation has only few instruments to directly enhance these goals. Hence, cantons and cities bear the main responsibility for the formulation and implementation of strategies to guide metropolitan development. However, they have proven rather hesitant to do so up to now. This study will focus on experiences that have been made in the formulation and implementation of metropolitan strategies in Swiss cantons. The goal is to work out the profiles of cantonal metropolitan strategies in terms of substance and organisation, and shed light on the conditions that frame the elaboration of these strategies. This will be done on the basis of in-depth case studies of five cantons: Aargau, Bern, Graubünden, Neuchâtel, Ticino. Data will be collected and analysed with qualitative methods, drawing on documentary evidence as well as a collective interview in each canton. For validation of data and results, several feedback events will be held with relevant actors of the cantons under scrutiny. In addition, the project is monitored by a an expert panel of representatives drawn from the Confederation, the cantons and the cities. This project is related to the project "Assessing the trend towards new regionalism" of the NCCR-Democracy (see weblink).
Bosnia and Herzegovina is in a very challenging situation. The territorial organisation with the two entities, the Federation and the Republica Srbska, is far from contributing to overcoming ideological and political barriers within the country. The professional and political exchange with the surrounding countries of former Yugoslavia is (to a great extent artificially) kept low-profile. The relation to the EU is as yet mainly marked by the 'foreign governance' of the country, and not by spatial, social and economic coherence. Within the SCOPES 2000-2003 programme, aspects, shortcomings and opportunities of inter-regional co-operation within Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also with the surrounding countries, were tested and evaluated against the background of two specific issues of regional planning and development: the main transport corridors linking to the EU, and the question of city networks and territorial units (project nr. 7BIHP65680). One of the most important conclusions was that that it might not be possible to find an optimal regional structure solving all kinds of tasks and ambitions. Instead, an efficient system and basis for inter-regional co-operation could actually be the primary task, allowing for flexibly generating adequate forms of co-operation for different issues. Bearing this in mind, the project has culminated in a final conference bringing together professionals from all space-relevant fields of work (sociology, planning, economy, ecology, political sciences, law etc.) as well as political representatives, from all countries of former Yugoslavia. The current SCOPES 2005-2008 project is being built upon this strong basis. On the one hand, the impulse induced by the final conference will be picked up and 'institutionalized', establishing a platform of professional and political exchange in the region on the basis of strategic and regional planning tasks. This will challenge and help to overcome the ideologies still strongly determining opportunities in the region. On the other hand, specific issues regarding the territorial organization of Bosnia and Herzegovina will be further developed. In this respect, the aim of the project is to establish principles and criteria for the territorial organization and inter-regional cooperation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. An appropriate territorial organization and inter-regional cooperation would accelerate democratic processes, improve the efficiency of civil services, and prepare grounds for a thorough exercise of civil rights. At the same time, it would speed up the linking of regions and cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina with those in Europe, which means speeding up the entire development of the country. All of this in a time when European cities and regions – more than ever – are at the heart of the dynamics of the continent.
Since the beginning of the 1990s, capacity of area-wide governance in urban regions is seen to rely increasingly on issue-oriented networks that associate public authorities from various levels of government, and often also business actors and other non-governmental agencies. The purpose of this project is to assess this trend towards ‘new regionalism’, through an analysis of the ways in which the conditions, the structures and the democratic anchorage of area-wide governance have changed in seven Swiss metropolitan areas during the 20th century. The research is guided by three basic questions: How have socio-political cleavages changed in the metropolitan areas under scrutiny? How has governance of these areas changed? How have patterns of decision making regarding metropolitan policies changed? The project combines quantitative and qualitative methods. On the one hand, longitudinal quantitative demographic, socio-economic and electoral data at the communal level will be collected and analysed for each metropolitan area. On the other hand, comparative case studies will be conducted on the change of urban public transport policies in these areas.