Contemporary Switzerland: Revisiting the Special Case

Zukunft Schweiz - Demain la Suisse (or Switzerland - Towards the Future) is a research program begun in 1996 to promote social scientific understanding of social, cultural, economic, and political change in Swiss society. Kriesi (comparative politics, U. of Zurich, Switzerland), Farago (co-founder, Landert Farago Partner, a private social science research institute), Kohli (sociology, European U. Institute, Italy), and Zarin-Nejadan (economics, U. of Neuchatel, Switzerland) present the key findings of 12 of the research projects of the program, in this case focusing on the Swiss way of life, the Swiss labor market, and Swiss political institutions in comparative perspective. Topics of the papers include issues of relative deprivation and well-being; the impact of social inequalities on personal health; long-term dynamics of skill demand; working conditions for young adults entering the workplace; the relationship between internationalization and domestic politics; and sustainable fiscal policy in the Swiss federal system. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR