Regionalist Protest through Shared Rule? Peripherality and the Use of Cantonal Initiatives in Switzerland

Müller, Sean; Mazzoleni, Oscar (2016). Regionalist Protest through Shared Rule? Peripherality and the Use of Cantonal Initiatives in Switzerland. Regional and Federal Studies, 26(1), pp. 45-71. Taylor & Francis 10.1080/13597566.2015.1135134

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In this article, we are interested in the extent to which federalism is able to deal with peripheral protest through shared rule channels. Shared rule as a key dimension of federal states has not thus far received adequate academic attention. Empirically, we analyse the use of all cantonal initiatives in Switzerland over the past 25 years as a particular instrument of shared rule, subsequently focusing on two peripheral regions with successful regionalist parties, Ticino and Geneva. We find that regionalist parties contribute towards radicalizing peripheral demands in search of attention from the centre. This leads to the mainstreaming of peripheral demands by pulling other parties along. We conclude that shared rule properly designed gives even the most peripheral regions a voice in national decisions, but that regionalist parties may also use shared rule instruments to mobilize their electorate at home to fight their non-regionalist competitors.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	03 Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences > Social Sciences
UniBE Contributor:	Müller, Sean
Subjects:	300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology
ISSN:	1359-7566
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Language:	English
Submitter:	Sean Müller
Date Deposited:	09 May 2016 08:38
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 14:54
Publisher DOI:	10.1080/13597566.2015.1135134
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/79792