Andreas Busch
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199218813
- eISBN:
- 9780191711763
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199218813.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics, Political Economy
Does globalization erode the nation state's capacity to act? Are nation states forced to change their policies even if this goes against the democratic will of their electorates? How does government ...
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Does globalization erode the nation state's capacity to act? Are nation states forced to change their policies even if this goes against the democratic will of their electorates? How does government action change under conditions of globalization? Questions like these have not only featured highly in political debates in recent years, but also in academic discourse. This book contributes to that debate. The general question it addresses is whether globalization leads to policy convergence — a central, but contested topic in the debate, as theoretical arguments can be advanced both in favour of and against the likelihood of such a development. More specifically, the book contains detailed empirical case studies of four countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Switzerland) in a policy area where state action has been particularly challenged by the emergence of world-wide, around-the-clock financial markets in the last few decades, namely that of the regulation and supervision of the banking industry. Based on careful analysis of historical developments, specific challenges, the character of policy networks and institutions, and their interaction in the political process, this book argues that nation states still possess considerable room for manoeuvre in pursuing their policies. Even if they choose supranational coordination and cooperation, their national institutional configurations still function as filters in the globalization process.Less
Does globalization erode the nation state's capacity to act? Are nation states forced to change their policies even if this goes against the democratic will of their electorates? How does government action change under conditions of globalization? Questions like these have not only featured highly in political debates in recent years, but also in academic discourse. This book contributes to that debate. The general question it addresses is whether globalization leads to policy convergence — a central, but contested topic in the debate, as theoretical arguments can be advanced both in favour of and against the likelihood of such a development. More specifically, the book contains detailed empirical case studies of four countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Switzerland) in a policy area where state action has been particularly challenged by the emergence of world-wide, around-the-clock financial markets in the last few decades, namely that of the regulation and supervision of the banking industry. Based on careful analysis of historical developments, specific challenges, the character of policy networks and institutions, and their interaction in the political process, this book argues that nation states still possess considerable room for manoeuvre in pursuing their policies. Even if they choose supranational coordination and cooperation, their national institutional configurations still function as filters in the globalization process.
Bonoli Giuliano
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199267262
- eISBN:
- 9780191602023
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019926726X.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
The Swiss political system stresses compromise, negotiation, and consensus. As a result, collective welfare is relatively undeveloped and much is provided through compulsory occupational provision. ...
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The Swiss political system stresses compromise, negotiation, and consensus. As a result, collective welfare is relatively undeveloped and much is provided through compulsory occupational provision. New social risk provision in relation to childcare and benefits for unemployed people is relatively weak. Reliance on guest‐workers, who can be repatriated during recession, helps to mitigate the pressures from labour market flexibility on the Swiss system. During the past 15 years, the movement of women into paid work and high unemployment (by Swiss standards) have reinforced demands for reform. A number of measures have been put into place, often as a result of cantonal pressures and typically as a result of compromises that offer something to both employers and employees, or to mothers and to right‐wing groups. Further reforms are under discussion.Less
The Swiss political system stresses compromise, negotiation, and consensus. As a result, collective welfare is relatively undeveloped and much is provided through compulsory occupational provision. New social risk provision in relation to childcare and benefits for unemployed people is relatively weak. Reliance on guest‐workers, who can be repatriated during recession, helps to mitigate the pressures from labour market flexibility on the Swiss system. During the past 15 years, the movement of women into paid work and high unemployment (by Swiss standards) have reinforced demands for reform. A number of measures have been put into place, often as a result of cantonal pressures and typically as a result of compromises that offer something to both employers and employees, or to mothers and to right‐wing groups. Further reforms are under discussion.
Amy Nelson Burnett
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195305760
- eISBN:
- 9780199784912
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195305760.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter presents Basel’s late medieval church and then describes the dramatic changes brought to the church and its clergy by the Reformation and by the long-term political and religious ...
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This chapter presents Basel’s late medieval church and then describes the dramatic changes brought to the church and its clergy by the Reformation and by the long-term political and religious developments in Basel and in Switzerland as a whole over the 16th and early 17th centuries. It also gives a statistical overview of the 254 men who served Basel’s church during this time, tentatively identifying the four generations of pastors who entered the ministry from 1529 to 1550, from 1550 to 1579, from 1580 to 1610, and from 1610 to 1629.Less
This chapter presents Basel’s late medieval church and then describes the dramatic changes brought to the church and its clergy by the Reformation and by the long-term political and religious developments in Basel and in Switzerland as a whole over the 16th and early 17th centuries. It also gives a statistical overview of the 254 men who served Basel’s church during this time, tentatively identifying the four generations of pastors who entered the ministry from 1529 to 1550, from 1550 to 1579, from 1580 to 1610, and from 1610 to 1629.
W. P. Stephens
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198263630
- eISBN:
- 9780191682629
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198263630.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, History of Christianity
This chapter deals with Zurich and the Swiss confederation, in the context of Zwingli's life and work. After providing a brief background of Zurich and Swiss confederation, it situates him at ...
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This chapter deals with Zurich and the Swiss confederation, in the context of Zwingli's life and work. After providing a brief background of Zurich and Swiss confederation, it situates him at Switzerland at the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century. Zwingli's reforming ministry was primarily in Zurich, but his sense of being Swiss meant that he had an eye on wining the whole confederation to the gospel of Christ. The difficulties and opportunities he faced were related in part to the civil and religious character of the city and its surrounding territory. It was in a republican setting, with power exercised by a council rather than by a single ruler, that Zwingli lived and worked.Less
This chapter deals with Zurich and the Swiss confederation, in the context of Zwingli's life and work. After providing a brief background of Zurich and Swiss confederation, it situates him at Switzerland at the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century. Zwingli's reforming ministry was primarily in Zurich, but his sense of being Swiss meant that he had an eye on wining the whole confederation to the gospel of Christ. The difficulties and opportunities he faced were related in part to the civil and religious character of the city and its surrounding territory. It was in a republican setting, with power exercised by a council rather than by a single ruler, that Zwingli lived and worked.
Jan‐Erik Lane, David McKay, and Kenneth Newton
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780198280538
- eISBN:
- 9780191601934
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019828053X.003.0027
- Subject:
- Political Science, Reference
This section provides information on the most significant features of government and politics in Switzerland. These include data on state structure and offices, parties, government constitutions, ...
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This section provides information on the most significant features of government and politics in Switzerland. These include data on state structure and offices, parties, government constitutions, electoral and voting systems, and basic media materials on media, education, economic interest organisations and the budget.Less
This section provides information on the most significant features of government and politics in Switzerland. These include data on state structure and offices, parties, government constitutions, electoral and voting systems, and basic media materials on media, education, economic interest organisations and the budget.
Andreas Busch
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199218813
- eISBN:
- 9780191711763
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199218813.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics, Political Economy
This chapter compares the structures and outputs of the four policy networks discussed in the preceding chapters, arguing that country-specific contingencies lead to different outcomes in the face of ...
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This chapter compares the structures and outputs of the four policy networks discussed in the preceding chapters, arguing that country-specific contingencies lead to different outcomes in the face of similar challenges during the period of investigation. In the United States, a pluralist system of associations in combination with a fragmented regulatory and legislative system leads to policy failure and blockade; in the United Kingdom, market concentration and a concentrated regulatory and legislative system create high state capacity despite a pluralist system of associations. In Germany, a concerted associational system is weakened by market fragmentation, but combined with concentrated regulation creates policy success; in Switzerland, a segmented but concentrated market combines with comprehensive concentration to create flexible adaptation with minimal resource requirements. Compared with these factors, standard political institutions (parliamentarism versus presidentialism; party system; unitary versus federalism) show little influence on their own, but a mediated one depending on context. Different ‘varieties of capitalism’ show an influence through their differences in associational systems, but overall do not have much explanatory value, as the substantial differences between the two ‘Anglo-Saxon’ cases of the United States and United Kingdom demonstrate.Less
This chapter compares the structures and outputs of the four policy networks discussed in the preceding chapters, arguing that country-specific contingencies lead to different outcomes in the face of similar challenges during the period of investigation. In the United States, a pluralist system of associations in combination with a fragmented regulatory and legislative system leads to policy failure and blockade; in the United Kingdom, market concentration and a concentrated regulatory and legislative system create high state capacity despite a pluralist system of associations. In Germany, a concerted associational system is weakened by market fragmentation, but combined with concentrated regulation creates policy success; in Switzerland, a segmented but concentrated market combines with comprehensive concentration to create flexible adaptation with minimal resource requirements. Compared with these factors, standard political institutions (parliamentarism versus presidentialism; party system; unitary versus federalism) show little influence on their own, but a mediated one depending on context. Different ‘varieties of capitalism’ show an influence through their differences in associational systems, but overall do not have much explanatory value, as the substantial differences between the two ‘Anglo-Saxon’ cases of the United States and United Kingdom demonstrate.
Giuliano Bonoli and André Mach
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199240920
- eISBN:
- 9780191600180
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199240922.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Among ‘Continental’ welfare states, Switzerland had and has the highest per capita income and the highest employment ratio in the group of advanced welfare states included in this study. Its ...
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Among ‘Continental’ welfare states, Switzerland had and has the highest per capita income and the highest employment ratio in the group of advanced welfare states included in this study. Its export‐oriented industries and services have remained highly competitive; its levels of taxation and welfare expenditures are low; and its labour‐market institutions are highly flexible. Nevertheless, Switzerland suffered severe job losses in the first oil‐price crisis and responded by introducing compulsory unemployment insurance. In the 1980s and 1990s, political pressures from export‐oriented businesses were successful in reducing the tariff and non‐tariff barriers, protecting the sheltered sectors of the Swiss economy, whose inefficiency was beginning to hurt the competitiveness of internationally exposed firms. However, when the demand for neo‐liberal reforms touched on the benefits provided by the — not particularly generous — Swiss welfare state, they were stopped not by the ‘social partners’ as in other consociational/ corporatist democracies, or by electoral shifts in governments, but by the direct democracy of the referendum system. As a consequence, limited retrenchment had to be combined with some important extensions of welfare coverage.Less
Among ‘Continental’ welfare states, Switzerland had and has the highest per capita income and the highest employment ratio in the group of advanced welfare states included in this study. Its export‐oriented industries and services have remained highly competitive; its levels of taxation and welfare expenditures are low; and its labour‐market institutions are highly flexible. Nevertheless, Switzerland suffered severe job losses in the first oil‐price crisis and responded by introducing compulsory unemployment insurance. In the 1980s and 1990s, political pressures from export‐oriented businesses were successful in reducing the tariff and non‐tariff barriers, protecting the sheltered sectors of the Swiss economy, whose inefficiency was beginning to hurt the competitiveness of internationally exposed firms. However, when the demand for neo‐liberal reforms touched on the benefits provided by the — not particularly generous — Swiss welfare state, they were stopped not by the ‘social partners’ as in other consociational/ corporatist democracies, or by electoral shifts in governments, but by the direct democracy of the referendum system. As a consequence, limited retrenchment had to be combined with some important extensions of welfare coverage.
Florence Passy
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199251780
- eISBN:
- 9780191599057
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199251789.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Identifies specific network mechanisms at the individual level and illustrates how different social networks affect recruitment and individual participation in different voluntary organizations and ...
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Identifies specific network mechanisms at the individual level and illustrates how different social networks affect recruitment and individual participation in different voluntary organizations and social movement organizations. Socialization functions of social networks create an initial disposition to participate; structural‐connection functions generate practical opportunities for involvement; decision‐shaping functions affect the ultimate decision to take part. Empirical evidence comes from members of two political organizations active in the solidarity movement and the environmental movement in Switzerland, the Bern Declaration and WWF.Less
Identifies specific network mechanisms at the individual level and illustrates how different social networks affect recruitment and individual participation in different voluntary organizations and social movement organizations. Socialization functions of social networks create an initial disposition to participate; structural‐connection functions generate practical opportunities for involvement; decision‐shaping functions affect the ultimate decision to take part. Empirical evidence comes from members of two political organizations active in the solidarity movement and the environmental movement in Switzerland, the Bern Declaration and WWF.
Giuliano Bonoli
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198297567
- eISBN:
- 9780191600104
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198297564.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This is the second of three chapters on the implications of electoral politics and the design of political institutions for welfare state adjustment. Bonoli explores the relationship between ...
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This is the second of three chapters on the implications of electoral politics and the design of political institutions for welfare state adjustment. Bonoli explores the relationship between political institutions and patterns of welfare retrenchment, both on a theoretical level and on the basis of the observation of welfare reforms adopted in countries characterized by different levels of institutional power concentration. The main empirical focus is on Britain, an exemplar of strong power concentration, Switzerland, which has a political system characterized by high levels of power fragmentation, and France, an intermediate case. For each of the three countries, narrative accounts are provided of how selected welfare reforms (pension reform in all three countries and unemployment insurance reform in Switzerland) have been adopted. The comparison suggests that the relationship between constitutional structures and welfare adaptation is not a linear one, whereby power concentration is directly linked to a higher or lower rate of success in achieving restructuring, or to the amount of restructuring that can be obtained. Power concentration does, however, appear to be related to the form that welfare state adaptation takes: in contexts of strong power concentration, reform tends to be unilateral and geared towards retrenchment; in contrast, in institutional contexts characterized by veto points, reform tends to combine measures of retrenchment with expansion and improvements of existing programmes.Less
This is the second of three chapters on the implications of electoral politics and the design of political institutions for welfare state adjustment. Bonoli explores the relationship between political institutions and patterns of welfare retrenchment, both on a theoretical level and on the basis of the observation of welfare reforms adopted in countries characterized by different levels of institutional power concentration. The main empirical focus is on Britain, an exemplar of strong power concentration, Switzerland, which has a political system characterized by high levels of power fragmentation, and France, an intermediate case. For each of the three countries, narrative accounts are provided of how selected welfare reforms (pension reform in all three countries and unemployment insurance reform in Switzerland) have been adopted. The comparison suggests that the relationship between constitutional structures and welfare adaptation is not a linear one, whereby power concentration is directly linked to a higher or lower rate of success in achieving restructuring, or to the amount of restructuring that can be obtained. Power concentration does, however, appear to be related to the form that welfare state adaptation takes: in contexts of strong power concentration, reform tends to be unilateral and geared towards retrenchment; in contrast, in institutional contexts characterized by veto points, reform tends to combine measures of retrenchment with expansion and improvements of existing programmes.
Reto Wiesli
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199260362
- eISBN:
- 9780191601873
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199260362.003.0020
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Four features are highly valued in Switzerland's political system and political culture: the militia principle, direct democracy, federalism, and consociationalism. These factors also have a strong ...
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Four features are highly valued in Switzerland's political system and political culture: the militia principle, direct democracy, federalism, and consociationalism. These factors also have a strong impact on the structure of the Swiss political elite: Some politicians qualify as real professionals, but because of the concurrence of the militia principle and the federal character of the Swiss political system we are bound to speak of an incomplete professionalization of the political class. Furthermore, the pivotal role of associations (Verbändestaat) and the controlling function of direct democracy make it difficult to determine a centre of a political class. Nevertheless, it is possible to define a small elite cluster even in Switzerland – but certain qualifications have to be taken into account.Less
Four features are highly valued in Switzerland's political system and political culture: the militia principle, direct democracy, federalism, and consociationalism. These factors also have a strong impact on the structure of the Swiss political elite: Some politicians qualify as real professionals, but because of the concurrence of the militia principle and the federal character of the Swiss political system we are bound to speak of an incomplete professionalization of the political class. Furthermore, the pivotal role of associations (Verbändestaat) and the controlling function of direct democracy make it difficult to determine a centre of a political class. Nevertheless, it is possible to define a small elite cluster even in Switzerland – but certain qualifications have to be taken into account.
Jürg Steiner
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199242146
- eISBN:
- 9780191599651
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199242143.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Why is it that Switzerland, a country that combines a high level of cultural and linguistic diversity with a high level of political stability, is so reluctant to join the EU? This chapter briefly ...
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Why is it that Switzerland, a country that combines a high level of cultural and linguistic diversity with a high level of political stability, is so reluctant to join the EU? This chapter briefly reviews the historical background to Swiss federalism, in order then to discuss cultural and economic perceptions, which have created a durable public perception of the virtues of neutrality and independence from European entanglements. It then discusses what the growing integration and politico‐economic harmonization of Europe implies for the future of Swiss nationalism, and discerns a generational shift of opinion, whereby younger Swiss will increasingly come to recognize a parallel European identity above that of the Swiss nation‐state.Less
Why is it that Switzerland, a country that combines a high level of cultural and linguistic diversity with a high level of political stability, is so reluctant to join the EU? This chapter briefly reviews the historical background to Swiss federalism, in order then to discuss cultural and economic perceptions, which have created a durable public perception of the virtues of neutrality and independence from European entanglements. It then discusses what the growing integration and politico‐economic harmonization of Europe implies for the future of Swiss nationalism, and discerns a generational shift of opinion, whereby younger Swiss will increasingly come to recognize a parallel European identity above that of the Swiss nation‐state.
Geir Lundestad
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199266685
- eISBN:
- 9780191601057
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199266689.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Discusses the expansion of the cooperation established between the US and Western Europe in the period 1950–1962, and analyses the Atlantic community, Germany's role in the relationship, and Western ...
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Discusses the expansion of the cooperation established between the US and Western Europe in the period 1950–1962, and analyses the Atlantic community, Germany's role in the relationship, and Western European integration. The first section looks at the dominant status that America had achieved in Europe by 1950, and at Europe's centrality to American–European cooperation—the shared assumption that Europe was the area of the world that mattered most, and that the struggle between East and West was primarily a struggle over Europe. The second section discusses the (North) Atlantic community in terms of balance of power (notably the threat of Soviet communism), the domestic threat from communists and other anti‐democratic groups, and from Germany, and the third discusses European integration in relation to this Atlantic framework. The fourth and fifth sections examine the motives for America's support of European integration, and the European economic challenge to the Atlantic framework. The sixth section analyses the development of the ‘special relationships’ formed between the US and various European countries, notably Britain, but also West Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Ireland, Sweden, Finland, and Yugoslavia. The last section looks at some of the concessions that the US had to make, and some of its defeats, in its relationship with Western Europe.Less
Discusses the expansion of the cooperation established between the US and Western Europe in the period 1950–1962, and analyses the Atlantic community, Germany's role in the relationship, and Western European integration. The first section looks at the dominant status that America had achieved in Europe by 1950, and at Europe's centrality to American–European cooperation—the shared assumption that Europe was the area of the world that mattered most, and that the struggle between East and West was primarily a struggle over Europe. The second section discusses the (North) Atlantic community in terms of balance of power (notably the threat of Soviet communism), the domestic threat from communists and other anti‐democratic groups, and from Germany, and the third discusses European integration in relation to this Atlantic framework. The fourth and fifth sections examine the motives for America's support of European integration, and the European economic challenge to the Atlantic framework. The sixth section analyses the development of the ‘special relationships’ formed between the US and various European countries, notably Britain, but also West Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Ireland, Sweden, Finland, and Yugoslavia. The last section looks at some of the concessions that the US had to make, and some of its defeats, in its relationship with Western Europe.
Frank Aarebrot, Sten Berglund, and Thomas Weninger
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294764
- eISBN:
- 9780191600005
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019829476X.003.0014
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter examines public opinion regarding European Community integration in the five small but comparatively prosperous countries in the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). The evidence ...
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This chapter examines public opinion regarding European Community integration in the five small but comparatively prosperous countries in the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). The evidence reveals a split. On the one hand, there is the positive endorsement expressed in Austria, Finland and Sweden; on the other, there is the negative assessment expressed in Norway and Switzerland. This ambivalence confirms that the impact of centre‐periphery location is complex. Moreover, as the Norwegian and Swiss cases indicate, the centre‐periphery cleavage within countries is as relevant as that between countries to an understanding of support for internationalized governance.Less
This chapter examines public opinion regarding European Community integration in the five small but comparatively prosperous countries in the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). The evidence reveals a split. On the one hand, there is the positive endorsement expressed in Austria, Finland and Sweden; on the other, there is the negative assessment expressed in Norway and Switzerland. This ambivalence confirms that the impact of centre‐periphery location is complex. Moreover, as the Norwegian and Swiss cases indicate, the centre‐periphery cleavage within countries is as relevant as that between countries to an understanding of support for internationalized governance.
Alexander Börsch
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199206483
- eISBN:
- 9780191709715
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199206483.003.0006
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Political Economy
This chapter explores differences in the coordination mechanisms of coordinated market economies (CMEs). The VoCs perspective argues that national institutions, which are linked through ...
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This chapter explores differences in the coordination mechanisms of coordinated market economies (CMEs). The VoCs perspective argues that national institutions, which are linked through complementarities, shape company strategies and the resulting economic specialisations of countries. To examine these links, this chapter compares the two CMEs with the most similar product market specializations: Germany, the prototypical CME, and Switzerland. Both countries have comparative advantages in industries characterised by incremental innovation patterns and diversified quality production (DQP). The comparison shows that Germany and Switzerland have significantly different corporate governance frameworks. In several subsystems, Swiss corporate governance is much closer to patterns found in liberal market economies. The chapter argues that Swiss firms can pursue DQP strategies nonetheless thanks to two enabling conditions. First, the structure of the training system — based on the coordination capacities of employers — supports the development of firm- and industry-specific skills, and creates a qualified and specialised workforce for Swiss firms. Second, management enjoys protection from capital market pressures due to concentrated ownership patterns and the absence of a market for corporate control, which enables coordination for firms that wish to pursue DQP strategies. These features mean that despite differences between the Swiss and German institutional frameworks, Swiss firms can create the institutional conditions for DQP production at the industry and company levels. Coordination is more informal and voluntary in nature, making the corporate governance system more differentiated than its German counterpart. This implies that different institutional paths can be taken to achieve the same results. Hence, institutions can be coupled more loosely than the VoC perspective would expect.Less
This chapter explores differences in the coordination mechanisms of coordinated market economies (CMEs). The VoCs perspective argues that national institutions, which are linked through complementarities, shape company strategies and the resulting economic specialisations of countries. To examine these links, this chapter compares the two CMEs with the most similar product market specializations: Germany, the prototypical CME, and Switzerland. Both countries have comparative advantages in industries characterised by incremental innovation patterns and diversified quality production (DQP). The comparison shows that Germany and Switzerland have significantly different corporate governance frameworks. In several subsystems, Swiss corporate governance is much closer to patterns found in liberal market economies. The chapter argues that Swiss firms can pursue DQP strategies nonetheless thanks to two enabling conditions. First, the structure of the training system — based on the coordination capacities of employers — supports the development of firm- and industry-specific skills, and creates a qualified and specialised workforce for Swiss firms. Second, management enjoys protection from capital market pressures due to concentrated ownership patterns and the absence of a market for corporate control, which enables coordination for firms that wish to pursue DQP strategies. These features mean that despite differences between the Swiss and German institutional frameworks, Swiss firms can create the institutional conditions for DQP production at the industry and company levels. Coordination is more informal and voluntary in nature, making the corporate governance system more differentiated than its German counterpart. This implies that different institutional paths can be taken to achieve the same results. Hence, institutions can be coupled more loosely than the VoC perspective would expect.
Sarah Percy
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199214334
- eISBN:
- 9780191706608
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199214334.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter examines the early origins of the norm against mercenary through three major cases of mercenary use, broadly covering the period that runs from the 12th century through to the 16th ...
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This chapter examines the early origins of the norm against mercenary through three major cases of mercenary use, broadly covering the period that runs from the 12th century through to the 16th century. It looks at mercenaries in France and England from the 12th to the 14th century, with a particular focus on the routiers and écorcheur of 14th-century France. It also discusses Swiss mercenaries from the 13th to the 16th centuries. Finally it looks at Italian mercenaries during the same period. The military enterpriser system in the German states during the Thirty Years War is also considered. These four cases show that the anti-mercenary norm ultimately led to a major shift away from mercenary use by the end of the 17th century. Rulers brought the mercenary trade entirely under the control of the state, eliminating the independent, entrepreneurial mercenary from the international stage. After the 17th century, states bought and sold units of mercenaries or allowed the recruitment of individual mercenaries on their territory under strict licence.Less
This chapter examines the early origins of the norm against mercenary through three major cases of mercenary use, broadly covering the period that runs from the 12th century through to the 16th century. It looks at mercenaries in France and England from the 12th to the 14th century, with a particular focus on the routiers and écorcheur of 14th-century France. It also discusses Swiss mercenaries from the 13th to the 16th centuries. Finally it looks at Italian mercenaries during the same period. The military enterpriser system in the German states during the Thirty Years War is also considered. These four cases show that the anti-mercenary norm ultimately led to a major shift away from mercenary use by the end of the 17th century. Rulers brought the mercenary trade entirely under the control of the state, eliminating the independent, entrepreneurial mercenary from the international stage. After the 17th century, states bought and sold units of mercenaries or allowed the recruitment of individual mercenaries on their territory under strict licence.
Peter A. Gloor
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195304121
- eISBN:
- 9780199789771
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195304121.003.0006
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Innovation
This chapter begins by expanding the discussion of creativity, collaboration, and communication processes introduced in Chapter 3 by adding two foundational elements: culture and technology. These ...
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This chapter begins by expanding the discussion of creativity, collaboration, and communication processes introduced in Chapter 3 by adding two foundational elements: culture and technology. These are briefly discussed as components of the COIN-driven innovation process as a lead-in to the case studies of real COINs, in which the author has participated and from which lessons about collaborative innovation are derived. The cases are presented in a way that ties them to the specific aspects of COINs that were introduced and discussed in earlier chapters. Four cases are presented in detail. The first is DaimlerChrysler's e-extended Enterprise, which stemmed from the need to streamline procurement and supply after the merger of the two firms and resulted in an innovation that greatly reduced transaction costs and generated significant revenue. Next, the chapter presents Deloitte Consulting's e.Xperts, a virtual e-business consulting practice that emerged from a trans-national COIN that was instrumental in successfully acquiring and delivering projects for the firm well in excess of $100 million. This is followed by the example of e-banking for a private Swiss bank, in which a COIN was able to deliver electronic solutions for a financial institution that greatly enhanced its business profile with its customers. Another bank-related case is presented: software development at Union Bank of Switzerland, where a COIN demonstrated how creative collaboration could address several IT-related issues and lead to innovations of value beyond what would have otherwise been expected had the process unfolded in the typical manner. A side-bar case discusses the Trade Point Program that functions as a global COIN, acting locally to assist small- and medium-size enterprises (particularly in the developing world) in participating in worldwide markets.Less
This chapter begins by expanding the discussion of creativity, collaboration, and communication processes introduced in Chapter 3 by adding two foundational elements: culture and technology. These are briefly discussed as components of the COIN-driven innovation process as a lead-in to the case studies of real COINs, in which the author has participated and from which lessons about collaborative innovation are derived. The cases are presented in a way that ties them to the specific aspects of COINs that were introduced and discussed in earlier chapters. Four cases are presented in detail. The first is DaimlerChrysler's e-extended Enterprise, which stemmed from the need to streamline procurement and supply after the merger of the two firms and resulted in an innovation that greatly reduced transaction costs and generated significant revenue. Next, the chapter presents Deloitte Consulting's e.Xperts, a virtual e-business consulting practice that emerged from a trans-national COIN that was instrumental in successfully acquiring and delivering projects for the firm well in excess of $100 million. This is followed by the example of e-banking for a private Swiss bank, in which a COIN was able to deliver electronic solutions for a financial institution that greatly enhanced its business profile with its customers. Another bank-related case is presented: software development at Union Bank of Switzerland, where a COIN demonstrated how creative collaboration could address several IT-related issues and lead to innovations of value beyond what would have otherwise been expected had the process unfolded in the typical manner. A side-bar case discusses the Trade Point Program that functions as a global COIN, acting locally to assist small- and medium-size enterprises (particularly in the developing world) in participating in worldwide markets.
Nicole Bolleyer
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199570607
- eISBN:
- 9780191721953
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199570607.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, European Union
Over the past decades, governments have increasingly been confronted with problems that transcend their boundaries. A multitude of policy fields are affected, including environment, trade and ...
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Over the past decades, governments have increasingly been confronted with problems that transcend their boundaries. A multitude of policy fields are affected, including environment, trade and security. Responding to the challenges triggered by Europeanization and globalization, governments increasingly interact across different spheres of authority. Both theoretically and empirically, the puzzle of institutional choice reflected by the variety of arrangements in which intergovernmental cooperation takes place inside individual countries and across their borders remains surprisingly under-explored. In an attempt to solve this puzzle, the book tackles the following questions: Why are the intergovernmental arrangements governments set up to deal with boundary-crossing problems so different? To what extent do these institutional differences affect the effectiveness of intergovernmental cooperation? To address this gap theoretically and empirically, this book adopts a deductive, rationalist approach on institution-building. It argues that internal politics, the type of executive-legislative relations within the interacting governments, explains the nature of institutions set up to channel intergovernmental processes: while power-sharing governments engage in institution-building, power-concentrating governments avoid it. It also shows that these institutional choices matter for the output of intergovernmental cooperation. The approach is applied to Canada, Switzerland, the United States and finally the European Union. Disaggregating individual government units, the theoretical approach reveals how intragovernmental micro-incentives drive macro-dynamics and thereby addresses the neglect of horizontal dynamics in multilevel systems. The willingness and capacity of lower-level governments to solve collective problems on their own and to oppose central encroachment are crucial to understand the power distribution in different systems and their long-term evolutions.Less
Over the past decades, governments have increasingly been confronted with problems that transcend their boundaries. A multitude of policy fields are affected, including environment, trade and security. Responding to the challenges triggered by Europeanization and globalization, governments increasingly interact across different spheres of authority. Both theoretically and empirically, the puzzle of institutional choice reflected by the variety of arrangements in which intergovernmental cooperation takes place inside individual countries and across their borders remains surprisingly under-explored. In an attempt to solve this puzzle, the book tackles the following questions: Why are the intergovernmental arrangements governments set up to deal with boundary-crossing problems so different? To what extent do these institutional differences affect the effectiveness of intergovernmental cooperation? To address this gap theoretically and empirically, this book adopts a deductive, rationalist approach on institution-building. It argues that internal politics, the type of executive-legislative relations within the interacting governments, explains the nature of institutions set up to channel intergovernmental processes: while power-sharing governments engage in institution-building, power-concentrating governments avoid it. It also shows that these institutional choices matter for the output of intergovernmental cooperation. The approach is applied to Canada, Switzerland, the United States and finally the European Union. Disaggregating individual government units, the theoretical approach reveals how intragovernmental micro-incentives drive macro-dynamics and thereby addresses the neglect of horizontal dynamics in multilevel systems. The willingness and capacity of lower-level governments to solve collective problems on their own and to oppose central encroachment are crucial to understand the power distribution in different systems and their long-term evolutions.
Neville Wylie
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199547593
- eISBN:
- 9780191720581
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199547593.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This book examines how the United Kingdom government went about protecting the interests, lives, and well‐being of its prisoners of war (POWs) in Nazi Germany between 1939 and 1945. The comparatively ...
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This book examines how the United Kingdom government went about protecting the interests, lives, and well‐being of its prisoners of war (POWs) in Nazi Germany between 1939 and 1945. The comparatively good treatment of British prisoners in Germany has largely been explained by historians in terms of rational self‐interest, reciprocity, and influence of Nazi racism, which accorded Anglo‐Saxon servicemen a higher status than other categories of POWs. By contrast, this book offers a more nuanced picture of Anglo‐German relations and the politics of prisoners of war. Based on British, German, United States, and Swiss sources, it argues that German benevolence towards British POWs stemmed from London's success in working through neutral intermediaries, notably its protecting power (the United States and Switzerland) and the International Committee of the Red Cross, to promote German compliance with the 1929 Geneva convention, and building and sustaining a relationship with the German government that was capable of withstanding the corrosive effects of five years of warfare. It expands our understanding of both the formulation and execution of POW policy in both capitals, and sheds new light on the dynamics in inter‐belligerent relations during the war. It suggests that, while the Second World War should be rightly acknowledged as a conflict in which traditional constraints were routinely abandoned in the pursuit of political, strategic, or ideological goals, in this important area of Anglo‐German relations, customary international norms were both resilient and effective.Less
This book examines how the United Kingdom government went about protecting the interests, lives, and well‐being of its prisoners of war (POWs) in Nazi Germany between 1939 and 1945. The comparatively good treatment of British prisoners in Germany has largely been explained by historians in terms of rational self‐interest, reciprocity, and influence of Nazi racism, which accorded Anglo‐Saxon servicemen a higher status than other categories of POWs. By contrast, this book offers a more nuanced picture of Anglo‐German relations and the politics of prisoners of war. Based on British, German, United States, and Swiss sources, it argues that German benevolence towards British POWs stemmed from London's success in working through neutral intermediaries, notably its protecting power (the United States and Switzerland) and the International Committee of the Red Cross, to promote German compliance with the 1929 Geneva convention, and building and sustaining a relationship with the German government that was capable of withstanding the corrosive effects of five years of warfare. It expands our understanding of both the formulation and execution of POW policy in both capitals, and sheds new light on the dynamics in inter‐belligerent relations during the war. It suggests that, while the Second World War should be rightly acknowledged as a conflict in which traditional constraints were routinely abandoned in the pursuit of political, strategic, or ideological goals, in this important area of Anglo‐German relations, customary international norms were both resilient and effective.
Neville Wylie
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199547593
- eISBN:
- 9780191720581
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199547593.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
The final chapter examines the various strategies adopted by the Allied authorities in 1945 to influence German behaviour towards Allied POWs. Face‐to‐face meetings with the Swiss authorities in ...
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The final chapter examines the various strategies adopted by the Allied authorities in 1945 to influence German behaviour towards Allied POWs. Face‐to‐face meetings with the Swiss authorities in November 1944 strengthened British understanding of the conditions existing inside Germany and provided an insight into the minds of their enemies. The mass evacuation of Allied POWs from camps in Poland and eastern Germany in early 1945 nevertheless confounded Allied expectations and increased the danger of their men falling victim to disease and starvation. News of Hitler's violent reaction to the bombing of Dresden in early February likewise heightened concern about the possibility of revenge attacks against Allied airmen and other prisoners. The chapter shows how, though options were necessarily limited, the Allies were able to shore up the POW regime at this critical juncture, and were ultimately successful in persuading German officials to abide by excepted standards in their treatment of Allied prisoners.Less
The final chapter examines the various strategies adopted by the Allied authorities in 1945 to influence German behaviour towards Allied POWs. Face‐to‐face meetings with the Swiss authorities in November 1944 strengthened British understanding of the conditions existing inside Germany and provided an insight into the minds of their enemies. The mass evacuation of Allied POWs from camps in Poland and eastern Germany in early 1945 nevertheless confounded Allied expectations and increased the danger of their men falling victim to disease and starvation. News of Hitler's violent reaction to the bombing of Dresden in early February likewise heightened concern about the possibility of revenge attacks against Allied airmen and other prisoners. The chapter shows how, though options were necessarily limited, the Allies were able to shore up the POW regime at this critical juncture, and were ultimately successful in persuading German officials to abide by excepted standards in their treatment of Allied prisoners.
David J. Collins
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195329537
- eISBN:
- 9780199870134
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195329537.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Chapter four examines how the Swiss began to transform the fifteenth‐century peasant‐turned‐recluse Nicholas of Flue into a patron saint for their slowly forming Swiss homeland. Nicholas became an ...
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Chapter four examines how the Swiss began to transform the fifteenth‐century peasant‐turned‐recluse Nicholas of Flue into a patron saint for their slowly forming Swiss homeland. Nicholas became an exemplar of Swiss character that retained its appeal even as confessional divisions between Catholic and Reformed Christians hardened through the sixteenth century. This chapter reads the humanist compositions about Nicholas of Flue as an indicator of how the cities and regions making up the Swiss Confederation increasingly thought of themselves as a unified community and of how Nicholas posthumously could attenuate the religious, political, and social tensions across the Confederation that threatened its unity. In short, the case of Nicholas shows how saints could be turned into civic patrons in a new humanist mode.Less
Chapter four examines how the Swiss began to transform the fifteenth‐century peasant‐turned‐recluse Nicholas of Flue into a patron saint for their slowly forming Swiss homeland. Nicholas became an exemplar of Swiss character that retained its appeal even as confessional divisions between Catholic and Reformed Christians hardened through the sixteenth century. This chapter reads the humanist compositions about Nicholas of Flue as an indicator of how the cities and regions making up the Swiss Confederation increasingly thought of themselves as a unified community and of how Nicholas posthumously could attenuate the religious, political, and social tensions across the Confederation that threatened its unity. In short, the case of Nicholas shows how saints could be turned into civic patrons in a new humanist mode.
