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Why Switzerland?
Why Switzerland?, first published in 1976, offers a unique analysis of the structures that make Switzerland work and provides a short, concise "working model" for the visitor or student. Linking an analysis of the microeconomy to the major features in politics, history, religion and language, it shows how a "bottom up" society has survived in a world of "top down" states. For this new edition Jonathan Steinberg has completely revised and extended his text, and a number of unusual and attractive illustrations have been added.
322 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
18 people are currently reading
240 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Steinberg
29 books41 followersJonathan Steinberg is the Walter H. Annenberg Professor of European History and former Chair of the Department of History at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his A. B. from Harvard University and his Ph.D. from Cambridge University.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 19, 2013
The answer, it turns out, is "because Switzerland".
April 13, 2021
In the introduction to Why Switzerland? the author, Dr. Jonathan Steinberg, introduces two motivating questions for the book:
1. Why does Switzerland, a country without a national language or religion, exist at all?
2. Why should we care about it and what can we learn from it?
The book answers the first question well. While it can get dry at points, as a cultural history of Switzerland, it’s really great. You get a tour through Swiss history and a recap of how a country surrounded by single language, single religion monarchies evolved into a multi-lingual, multi-faith democracy. By exploring different facets of Swiss culture one by one (Politics, Religion, Language, etc.), Dr. Steinberg shows different aspects of culture reinforce each other to create the Switzerland we know today.
The chapter on language is particularly excellent. The whole picture of Switzerland becomes more complex when you realize that high German, the written and business language of the majority of the country, is hardly anyone’s first language; that’s Swiss German. The discussion of the role Swiss German in people’s lives is the best I’ve seen.
Dr. Steinberg also does a good job of showing the interplay between power (the people in charge), laws (the written rules and customs that limit those people), and culture (how those people think about themselves and their society) in shaping Swiss society. Reading this book, I’m convinced that culture is the most powerful of the three and that if you want to shape a society over time it’s what you should focus on.
The answer to the second question, why we should care about Switzerland and what lessons we can take from it, it is less satisfying. Perhaps out of a Swiss-like modesty, Dr. Steinberg never quite spells out why we should care about Switzerland. This is too bad because Switzerland is a remarkable place. It has the third most Nobel prize winners per capita and the fifth highest per capita income in the world despite having few conventional natural resources. It has low taxes and highly effective social services. It has remarkably high levels of social trust. It’s so safe that kindergarteners walk to and from school unaccompanied. No country is perfect, but Switzerland has a lot to recommend it. It is an exceptionally great place to live.
But if you don’t know this when you start reading, you’re left to back into it. Dr. Steinberg talks a lot about how Switzerland has developed differently than other countries in Europe, but he never explicitly says that these differences are desirable. Given the questions that motivate the book, that feels like a mistake.
If the case for why to care about Switzerland is understated, the lessons we can learn from are underdeveloped. Many distinct aspects of Swiss culture are discussed (a culture of political independence and individual freedom, expertise in creating high value exports, culture of political compromise, neutrality), but no overarching theory is offered for how a highly democratic, highly stable, highly productive, multi-cultural yet highly coherent country appeared in the midst of societies that very much are not these things. I’m being a little critical here, but I picked up this book hoping to get an informed theory of how Switzerland came to be and didn’t get it.
I’m a bit out of my depth here, but I’ll speculate about why Switzerland came to be what it is based on my reading of the book:
* The physical geography of Switzerland makes it simultaneously an essential trade route through Europe but also difficult (and undesirable) to dominate (due to the mountains)
* These mountain communities need a certain amount of self sufficiency and resilience just to get by. * They are simultaneously exposed to the rest of Europe via the Alpine trade routes.
* As a result, you get a combination of the conservative work ethic of the stereotypical country side with the stereotypical live-and-let-live attitude of port cities. This leads to a culture of independence and the development of democratic institutions.
* The lack of natural resources leads towards specialization in high value goods for export, requiring high levels of human capital and investment in infrastructure.
* Being surrounded by more powerful neighbors and physically landlocked leads to a political culture of diplomacy and compromise because internal conflict could be fatal. Ultimately this becomes the famous Swiss neutrality.
* Neutrality ends up paying huge dividends in the 20th century, where the Swiss never experience the physical devastation that the rest of Europe goes through during the first and second World Wars.
One final thing I enjoyed about the book and one thing it missed:
The chapter on the EU, its relationship to Switzerland, and the similarities and differences between the EU’s government/project and the Swiss Confederation is also great. I now understand what people mean when they talk about the democratic deficit of the European Union and see the Brexit debate differently than I did before.
There’s no dedicated discussion about women’s rights in the book, despite the fact that women didn’t get the right to vote in Federal elections until 1971 and the half canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden until 1991 (cantons are like US states). Given the focus on democratic institutions and their development, this seems like a major oversight.
1. Why does Switzerland, a country without a national language or religion, exist at all?
2. Why should we care about it and what can we learn from it?
The book answers the first question well. While it can get dry at points, as a cultural history of Switzerland, it’s really great. You get a tour through Swiss history and a recap of how a country surrounded by single language, single religion monarchies evolved into a multi-lingual, multi-faith democracy. By exploring different facets of Swiss culture one by one (Politics, Religion, Language, etc.), Dr. Steinberg shows different aspects of culture reinforce each other to create the Switzerland we know today.
The chapter on language is particularly excellent. The whole picture of Switzerland becomes more complex when you realize that high German, the written and business language of the majority of the country, is hardly anyone’s first language; that’s Swiss German. The discussion of the role Swiss German in people’s lives is the best I’ve seen.
Dr. Steinberg also does a good job of showing the interplay between power (the people in charge), laws (the written rules and customs that limit those people), and culture (how those people think about themselves and their society) in shaping Swiss society. Reading this book, I’m convinced that culture is the most powerful of the three and that if you want to shape a society over time it’s what you should focus on.
The answer to the second question, why we should care about Switzerland and what lessons we can take from it, it is less satisfying. Perhaps out of a Swiss-like modesty, Dr. Steinberg never quite spells out why we should care about Switzerland. This is too bad because Switzerland is a remarkable place. It has the third most Nobel prize winners per capita and the fifth highest per capita income in the world despite having few conventional natural resources. It has low taxes and highly effective social services. It has remarkably high levels of social trust. It’s so safe that kindergarteners walk to and from school unaccompanied. No country is perfect, but Switzerland has a lot to recommend it. It is an exceptionally great place to live.
But if you don’t know this when you start reading, you’re left to back into it. Dr. Steinberg talks a lot about how Switzerland has developed differently than other countries in Europe, but he never explicitly says that these differences are desirable. Given the questions that motivate the book, that feels like a mistake.
If the case for why to care about Switzerland is understated, the lessons we can learn from are underdeveloped. Many distinct aspects of Swiss culture are discussed (a culture of political independence and individual freedom, expertise in creating high value exports, culture of political compromise, neutrality), but no overarching theory is offered for how a highly democratic, highly stable, highly productive, multi-cultural yet highly coherent country appeared in the midst of societies that very much are not these things. I’m being a little critical here, but I picked up this book hoping to get an informed theory of how Switzerland came to be and didn’t get it.
I’m a bit out of my depth here, but I’ll speculate about why Switzerland came to be what it is based on my reading of the book:
* The physical geography of Switzerland makes it simultaneously an essential trade route through Europe but also difficult (and undesirable) to dominate (due to the mountains)
* These mountain communities need a certain amount of self sufficiency and resilience just to get by. * They are simultaneously exposed to the rest of Europe via the Alpine trade routes.
* As a result, you get a combination of the conservative work ethic of the stereotypical country side with the stereotypical live-and-let-live attitude of port cities. This leads to a culture of independence and the development of democratic institutions.
* The lack of natural resources leads towards specialization in high value goods for export, requiring high levels of human capital and investment in infrastructure.
* Being surrounded by more powerful neighbors and physically landlocked leads to a political culture of diplomacy and compromise because internal conflict could be fatal. Ultimately this becomes the famous Swiss neutrality.
* Neutrality ends up paying huge dividends in the 20th century, where the Swiss never experience the physical devastation that the rest of Europe goes through during the first and second World Wars.
One final thing I enjoyed about the book and one thing it missed:
The chapter on the EU, its relationship to Switzerland, and the similarities and differences between the EU’s government/project and the Swiss Confederation is also great. I now understand what people mean when they talk about the democratic deficit of the European Union and see the Brexit debate differently than I did before.
There’s no dedicated discussion about women’s rights in the book, despite the fact that women didn’t get the right to vote in Federal elections until 1971 and the half canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden until 1991 (cantons are like US states). Given the focus on democratic institutions and their development, this seems like a major oversight.
February 19, 2019
I really enjoyed this. I think Steinberg did a great job backing up his assertions and making the book interesting. Really enjoyed the economy and religion chapters.
October 10, 2019
Interesting but sometimes heavy going book about the history and role of Switzerland in Europe
May 29, 2023
Explains a lot!
November 4, 2015
Not a travel guide, and rather academic, not to say a bit tedious, at times, this book will tell you vital things to know about this fascinating and unique country. Once surrounded by enemies, now Switzerland is surrounded by friends (the EU) that threaten its uniqueness.
The author looks at politics, religion, culture and other topics trying to answer the question he poses in his title. I think he does a good job of this. He is British, but the points he makes comparing the US's democracy and Switzerland's very much interested me, as did much of the rest of the book.
I discovered it too late to finish before my recent trip to Europe - actually I had barely begun the book before I left the IS - and as I read after the trip I often found myself thinking that I wished I'd gotten through it before I'd left, but it also worked very well for me, as a sort of illumination of aspects of the Swiss I'd never have been able to put my finger on, but which ring very true as I look back at my experience there. So you might find it interesting whether you're about to go or have just returned. OR, if like me you're fascinated by European history, you may enjoy learning about one of the greatest if not the only, exception, in many ways, to the rest of the continent.
The author looks at politics, religion, culture and other topics trying to answer the question he poses in his title. I think he does a good job of this. He is British, but the points he makes comparing the US's democracy and Switzerland's very much interested me, as did much of the rest of the book.
I discovered it too late to finish before my recent trip to Europe - actually I had barely begun the book before I left the IS - and as I read after the trip I often found myself thinking that I wished I'd gotten through it before I'd left, but it also worked very well for me, as a sort of illumination of aspects of the Swiss I'd never have been able to put my finger on, but which ring very true as I look back at my experience there. So you might find it interesting whether you're about to go or have just returned. OR, if like me you're fascinated by European history, you may enjoy learning about one of the greatest if not the only, exception, in many ways, to the rest of the continent.
March 7, 2016
Really enjoyed reading this book! Give an overwhelming detailed view on Swiss identity and life. What makes Swiss a swiss and how that is hard to replicate elsewhere and how it might change in the future. Recommended read for anyone living or is new to Switzerland!
September 3, 2012
Tedious.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews