Consensus Democracy?: Swiss Education Policy Between Federalism and Subsidiarity

Consensus Democracy? examines education policy in Switzerland from a comparative perspective. It breaks new ground in providing a comprehensive analysis of the variations of Swiss state and local educational systems and the attempts to coordinate disparate policies at the regional and national level. After exploring the cultural, socioeconomic and political variables that influence the development of the varying education systems of the Swiss cantons and regions, this book explains how institutions and policy networks based on federalism and subsidiarity shape policymaking in the Swiss primary and secondary education sectors. This study evolved from a quantitative analysis of national and cantonal education statistics and the qualitative assessment of primary documents and interviews by the author with Swiss policymakers and education experts.