Current Concerns
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9 September 2013 No 27 ISSN 1664-7963 Current Concerns PO Box CH-8044 Zurich Current Concerns Switzerland The international journal for independent thought, ethical standards, moral responsibility, Phone: +41 44 350 65 50 Fax: +41 44 350 65 51 and for the promotion and respect of public international law, human rights and humanitarian law E-Mail: [email protected] Website: www.currentconcerns.ch English Edition of Zeit-Fragen Federalism as a guarantee of peace and Switzerland as a model “Such a confederation provides a guarantee for peace both to its own members as well as to its neighbours” by Dr phil René Roca, historian, Direct Democracy Research Institute The Federalist State of Switzerland is not only a fruit of the Liberals; the Catholic Common features between Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Conservatives with their insistence on the and James Guillaume and democratic Switzerland cantonal sovereignty have contributed largely to this constructive solution after In a little-known letter – (open letter “condition which is absolutely neces- the “Sonderbundskrieg”. Virtually un- to the German social rebels between sary” = “conditio sine qua non”, com- noticed in this context are the important 1833 and 1871), Proudhon writes that mon conferences would make sense. contributions of early socialists, who in the nucleus of the early French so- “Sinon, Non!” (If not, no!) the second half of the 19th century intro- cialists would only have common fea- Why did we not take such thoughts duced the federalist model of Switzerland tures with the German movement, up? The dead of the two World Wars to the European debate. Apart from fed- if the cadres were willing to discuss were not necessary. Rather than sink- eralism the early socialists in Switzerland any issue with each member (CGT ing into misery humans could have also fostered the cooperative movement, and CFDT) all over and fundamental- built up. Where now we have the which took up and built on the principle ly again (direct democracy!!!). In that “Bloodlands” and where the “Gener- of cooperatives in the Ancien Régime. To- case it would have a sustainable im- ation Kill” has raged, something quite gether with the Catholic Conservatives pact (sustainable development, UN!). different would have developed. they created an important foundation for If the German colleagues (around Should we not reflect about that? the development of direct democracy.1 Marx and Co.) were prepared for this A. Buchholz-Kaiser Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809–1865), as a French early socialist, advocated a In his treatise, Gasser deals intensively hon, Gasser says, had indeed emphasized libertarian approach and promoted fed- with the question of what political and eth- the structure of society from bottom up; eral structures, which distribute politi- ical principles might ensure a constructive however, he had fought the “state” in a too cal power in a decentralized manner. He communal life. This question, Gasser says, uncompromising way, by equating “state” found such structures in Switzerland with has been studied in too little detail by the entirely with the magisterial organizing the federal state of 1848 and took them as intellectuals. European liberalism had in principle of civil service hierarchy and a model to be discussed with other early fact implemented the idea of freedom in the command administration. The “state”, Gas- socialists in Germany and elsewhere in political constitution and the economy, but ser says, defines itself differently. A state Europe. Unfortunately, such approaches in the political practice the administrative order could as well be based on the gener- were only rarely debated in the context of authoritarianism was maintained beyond al will of the local self-administration, as a free debate. Karl Marx (1818–1883) dis- the letter of law (the same as in Europe- the structure of the Swiss Confederation credited Proudhon’s work and launched an socialism). Many liberals had not been showed. For Proudhon the Swiss Confed- a campaign against him. Such an action able to withdraw from the bureaucratic cen- eration was an example of a federation that was symptomatic of the failing success tralism, of a quasi-military command struc- could no longer be called “state”. of the socialist movement to promote sus- ture, Gasser wrote. However, if the com- For Gasser, these divergent perspec- tainable peace on the national and interna- mune as the lowest political level remained tives were no reason not to include Proud- tional level and to prevent the two world a mere tool of governmental power in such hon in his fundamental considerations. He wars. Instead, decentralized, libertari- a structure, liberal democracy with state mentioned in particular Proudhon’s work, an approaches such as that of Proudhon machinery’s comprehensive power might “Du principe fédératif”3, which had first were pushed back in favour of authoritar- take a fateful development towards author- been published in 1863 and had influenced ian state socialist theories. The Swiss his- itarian forms of government. him greatly. torian Adolf Gasser (1903–1985) adopted Proudhon was one of the first to try and Proudhon’s fruitful ideas as early as dur- Proudhon and the model demonstrate the philosophical “theory of ing the Second World War, and praised his of the Swiss Confederation the federative system”. Among so many theory of federalism in his groundbreak- In connection with his finding that only a constitutions that philosophy suggested ing work “Gemeindefreiheit als Rettung federalist state with extensive communal and history had tried out, the federative Europas. Grundlinien einer ethischen Ge- autonomy could be guarantor for a con- system was the only one to “reconcile[s] schichtsauffassung” (Communal freedom structive communal life, Gasser also men- the demands of justice, order, liberty, and as a salvation of Europe. Outlines of an tioned Pierre-Joseph Proudhon alongside ethical view on history).2 others. The anarchist theoretician Proud- continued on page 2 No 27 9 September 2013 Current Concerns Page 2 ”Federalism as a guarantee …” the reader to notice, is that in this system the centralization which characterizes, to an continued from page 1 contracting parties, whether heads of fam- equal extent, democratic empires, consti- stability”.4 For Proudhon any political sys- ily, towns, cantons, provinces, or states, not tutional monarchies, and unitary repub- tem is essentially based on a fundamen- only undertake bilateral and commutative lics.” tal duality: on those of authority and free- obligations with each other, but in making For Proudhon the actual social con- dom. These two principles are inextricably the pact, they reserve for themselves more tract is always a contract of federation, tied together: “Authority, without a liberty rights, more liberty, more authority, more which is concluded by a legal act be- to examine it, to resist or submit to it, is an property than they abandon.” tween the citizens and the state. Thus, empty word; liberty, without an authority Proudhon emphasizes – by referring to the two opposing poles “authority” and as counterweight, is meaningless.” a central idea of Rousseau – that the pow- “liberty” are brought into balance. In the In his book, Proudhon analyzed four ers assigned to federal government must course of time, the community of citizens forms of government, all of which are never exceed those assigned to commu- would come to achieve that “the former characterized by the pair of opposites au- nal or provincial “authorities” in numbers declines imperceptibly and withdraws, thority and freedom: Under the “rule of and content. The essential characteristic of while the latter expands […]; since this the authority” he subsumes monarchy and Proudhon’s federalism is that in all verti- dual movement leads to a subordination communism, which are characterized by cal structures of contract the higher levels’ such that authority becomes progressively the indivisibility of power; under the “rule power must decrease vis à vis the lower the instrument of liberty”. For Proudhon, of liberty” he subsumes democracy and one. Gasser took this idea of Proudhon the federative system is applicable to all anarchy which both included the separa- over and called the “state” a “federalist peoples and times and a “a guarantee [of tion of power. For Proudhon the idea of a body politic of the future” and a “contrac- peace] to its neighbours as well as to its separation of power or powers was one of tual voluntary federation of communes”. own members”. the biggest achievements so far in political Proudhon mentions the Swiss feder- In addition to the peacekeeping Proud- science. Proudhon called himself an “an- al state as the single example that has put hon mentions further ethical principles archist” but in his work he did no longer into practice the characteristics he men- that a federative system creates: use the term “anarchism” but put the “Idea tioned. In the following he quotes sever- “The federal system puts a stop to mass of the Federation” into the centre, which al articles of the Federal Constitution of agitation, to the ambitions and tumults of he probably considered a kind of synthe- 1848 in order to underline this statement: the demagogues; it is the end of rule by sis of democracy and anarchism. “Article 2: The purpose of the Con- the public square, of the triumphs of tri- federation is to secure the independence bunes, and of domination by the capital Finding a reasonable balance of the nation towards foreign powers, to city.” between liberty and authority maintain internal peace and order, to pro- These ethical implications can in fact Proudhon also notes that the government tect the rights and liberties of its members, be compared to Gasser’s “ethical collec- systems, which constituted the political and to increase their common prosperity. tivism”. The federative and direct demo- practice at his time, were not able to bal- Article 3: The cantons are sovereign cratic system that has shaped Switzerland ance liberty and authority in a reasonable within the limits of federal sovereignty, and from 1848 on, is not only a specific de- manner.