Since 2008, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) implements together with the Federal Office of Sport and in coordination with the cantons and Health Promotion Switzerland the National Programme on Nutrition and Physical Activity. This programme aims to promote a healthy lifestyle, e.g. balanced diet and regular physical activities. The Federal Council has extended the programme in 2012 till 2016. Within this programme, the FOPH has launched the initiative actionsanté. This initiative aims to motivate the economy to take voluntary actions to support the individual and the community in choosing a lifestyle that is more active and food that is more balanced. The initiative actionsanté aims that companies take actions in the following for areas in order to promote a healthy lifestyle: A) consumer information, B) marketing/promotion, C) food composition and food supply, and D) promoting an environment that supports physical activity. The FOPH has established partnerships with various private enterprises in these areas. The present study commissioned by the FOPH analyses the possibility to further develop the concept of the initiative actionsanté. On the one hand, the study presents the current international practice and the literature dealing with similar initiatives of other West European countries and international organisations. On the other hand, the stakeholders of the initiative actionsanté were involved in the analysis through guidelines based interviews or a workshop. In this way, the study takes into account the international developments and the stakeholders’ experiences and visions in order to formulate recommendations for the future refinement of the initiative actionsanté.
The program „QuAKTIV. Nature-oriented, child-and youth-friendly quarters and settlement development in the canton of Aargau“ is developed and implemented under the direction of the FHNW School of Social Work together with the cantonal agencies in the canton of Aargau. The program aims at intensifying participatory, ecological and educational goals in the implementation of child- and youth-friendly planning projects and in the design of natural experience spaces. This will be achieved through the participative implementation of concrete projects in three pilot communities in the canton of Aargau. Existing methods and instruments will be adapted to the preexisting demands and, if required, new tools will be developed, tested and evaluated in these pilot communities. The acquired experiences serve as flagship projects (good practice) and will be made available to a broad professional public. Commissioned by the Mercator Foundation Switzerland, the Department of Political Science evaluates the democratic content of alternative participatory forms used in the three pilot communities. This evaluation addresses several aspects such as inclusion, democratic quality and socialization. For this purpose, the study analyses program documents and conducts semi-structured interviews with both participants and decision-makers in the communities. In this way, the study takes into account different experiences and opinions of alternative participatory forms in order to formulate relevant recommendations for decision-makers for similar use of alternative participatory forms in other communities or cantons.
This Sinergia project addresses the questions of how policy evaluation in Switzerland is influenced by the Swiss political system, and how policy evaluation in turn influences the Swiss political system. This topic is of great theoretical significance for political science and public administration theory, because until now, research on the relationship between specific attributes of political systems and the practice and institutionalization of policy evaluation is missing. It is also of great practical relevance, because considerable resources are invested in evaluations each year, and we need to know how to best make use of this investment and how to avoid negative consequences. To link attributes of policy evaluation with policy, polity, and politics in a comprehensive approach is considered as an innovative and fruitful research track. The Swiss political system is ideal for studying this question: Firstly, it has a high degree of internal heterogeneity that allows for within-system comparisons. Secondly, two attributes of the Swiss political system are of special relevance for policy evaluation, namely: federalism and direct democracy. Some scholars claim that federalism increases the demand for evaluations, others argue the opposite, and the same is true for direct democracy. A similar lack of consensus exists with respect to the influence of policy evaluation on the Swiss political system. In addition, a systematic analysis of interdependencies between attributes of the Swiss political system and evaluation is lacking, especially at the subnational level. Therefore, the Sinergia project analyzes these relationships through comparisons at the cantonal level, and by using longitudinal and cross-sectional, inter-policy comparison. In detail, the following four subprojects constitute the Sinergia project: Subproject 1, led by A. Balthasar (University of Lucerne) and F. Varone (University of Geneva), asks about the relevance of policy sector and administrative unit attributes for policy evaluation by comparing twenty cases (1990-2011) in education, health, energy and public transport policy from four cantons and the Federation. Subproject 2, directed by K. Horber-Papazian and L. Mader (both IDHEAP Lausanne), analyzes the reasons for and the consequences of evaluation clauses in federal and cantonal laws. The study consists of a comprehensive survey and analysis of current (2011) obligations to conduct evaluations in all federal and cantonal laws. Subproject 3, managed by F. Sager and V. Friedrich (both University of Berne), concentrates on direct democracy and asks about the use of evaluations in direct democratic campaigns. The focus is on education and health policy at the cantonal and federal level. An extensive survey of all votes at cantonal and federal levels from 1990 to 2011 will be conducted, as well as eight case studies of selected campaigns. Subproject 4, run by T. Widmer and K. Frey (both University of Zurich), analyses the relationships between policy evaluation and parliaments at the cantonal and federal levels by conducting a survey among the about 3’000 members of parliament at both levels. Multi-level data analyses will be conducted, as will a comparison of 27 cases (3 policies from 3 policy sectors (education, health and energy policy) in 3 cantons).
The „Netzwerk Psychische Gesundheit Schweiz“ [„Mental Health Network Switzerland“] has started its activities in December 2011 and consists of organizations from the mental health domain in Switzerland. The Network defines itself as a multisectoral, nationwide initiative for the promotion of mental health and the reduction of psychological diseases in Switzerland. The Network itself does not implement measures. However, it promotes knowledge transfer and exchanges of information and experiences among important actors in the field of mental health in Switzerland. Commissioned by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (SFOPH), the Department of Political Science evaluates the Mental Health Network Switzerland. This evaluation is formative, and contributes to the installation and further development of the Network. It not only assesses the underlying conception and development of the Network, but also its chances for success under the given restrictions. The recommendations of this evaluation will give support for upcoming decisions to take concerning the further development of the Network.
In 2009, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (SFOPH) commissioned a research consortium composed of four institutions – Sucht Schweiz, Institut für Sucht- und Gesundheitsforschung ISGF, Institut universitaire de médecine sociale et préventive, Université de Lausanne IUMSP, Institut für Begleit- und Sozialforschung IBSF – with establishing the Addiction Monitoring System in Switzerland (AMIS). AMIS aims at the regular provision of representative population data on the consumption of psychoactive substances (alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs and pharmaceuticals) and on the individual and social consequences of such consumption. For that purpose, AMIS both draws on already existing data and collects new data. Given that the contract with the research consortium expires in 2014, the SFOPH has commissioned the Department of Political Science of the University of Zurich with an evaluation of AMIS, the results of which are to serve as a basis for negotiating a follow-up contract with the consortium.
There have been few analyses of voting behavior in cantonal parliaments to date. Since 2007, however, the Zurich cantonal parliament has employed an electronic voting system. Though this makes it possible to examine the voting behavior of individual parliamentarians over time, such information has thus far not been used for political science analysis. The proposal here, therefore, is to systematically analyze this electronically recorded data during the 2011 - 2015 and 2015 - 2019 legislative sessions. Concepts and methods previously developed for analyzing parliamentary behavior will be used for evaluating the data. The primary focus is on analyzing the maintenance of party discipline (or ‘upholding the party line’) within parliamentary factions. In other words, the focus is on the ‘coherence’ of voting behavior among members of parliamentary party groupings. The key question is what can explain notable deviations or difficulties in maintaining the party line. The existing literature suggests divergence could be due to individual characteristics of the parliamentarians, aspects or characteristics of the particular issues at hand, or to factors inherent to the parliamentary party groups themselves. Other issues raised in previous research on parliaments will also be addressed.
Swiss municipalities are important actors in the policy domains of housing and elderly people. Hence the success of privately initiated housing project for elderly people depends essentially on the role, the decisions and the policies of municipalities. This study analyzes the role of municipalities in the development process of such projects. More precisely the research investigates 1) the policy instruments municipalities are relying on, 2) how municipalities behave confronted with housing projects initiated by citizens and 3) how municipalities perceive their role as regards such projects.
This project in the framework of the Swiss Electoral Studies (Selects) analyzes the dynamics of the voting decision process in the campaign of the 2011 National Council elections. To this end, the project relies on the rolling cross-section (RCS) component of the Selects study – the first of its kind in the framework of an election campaign in Switzerland. The questions at the centre of this PhD project are how party strategies, media content, and campaign events influence the way in which citizens assess parties and form their voting intention.
In Switzerland, a wide range of political measures promoting gender equality at work are in place. However, this has not resulted in sustainable success in terms of equal payment, career development and the gendered division of labour. The aim of this project is to elaborate knowledge about the dynamics and the interplay of diverse equal opportunity policies in Switzerland. The envisaged findings seek to enhance the ability of political and state actors to adequately conceptualise and coordinate future policies. The project will analyse the genesis and governance of Swiss equal opportunity policies on the federal and cantonal level which aim at the equal participation of men and women in employment. Such policies include the anti-discrimination law, equal opportunity programmes of private and public employers, as well as measures to reconcile work and family life (e.g. public child care). Comparative expertise reports for Germany and Austria complement the study, as all three countries – in principle – have similar gender arrangements. Whereas Switzerland has developed stronger anti-discrimination policies, both other countries focus more on reconciliation. The project maps and classifies existing political initiatives and policy approaches since the 1990s. Selected cases will undergo a more detailed analysis. Research methods include surveys and interviews with stakeholders and experts, document analysis and network analysis.
Many elements of Swiss energy policy are shaped by the principle of subsidarity common to the federalist political system in Switzerland. The resulting diversity in formulation and implementation of energy policies should promote innovative problem solutions and regionally adapted implementation. The focus of this research project is on the factors influencing the patterns of implementation of energy policies in the Swiss cantons. Therefore, the projects investiagtes the determinants of the behaviour of the cantons (as collective actors) in the energy policy domain. This PhD project concentrates on energy policy measures for buildings, where the cantons are in charge of policies for an efficient energy use and for the promotion of renewable energy. In the first part, the project is searching for explanations how innovative policy solutions (in terms of formulation and implementation) are spraeding among the 26 cantons (policy diffusion). In the second part, the processes of policy transfers are in the research focus. Whereas the first part of the project is designed as a complete census of quantitative macro data of all 26 cantons, the second part applies a comparative case study design.