Looking for comparison between the US and Switzerland

crw330

Member

Member since 09 February 2008

crw330

09 February 2008 09:33:47

crw330

09 February 2008 09:33:47

I am from the US and interested in learning more about Switzerland. Has anyone found a detailed comparison (here is an example of the kind of comparison that would be ideal, though it is comparing USA and Germany - http://page.mi.fu-berlin.de/daniel/eng/vs/democracy.htm )? I have searched for one but haven't found one thus far.

If no one has found such a detailed comparison could anyone tell me some key differences in the following areas:

>Censorship
>Civil Liberties - what civil liberties are protected, which aren't?
>Privacy - how safe is your personal information?
>Laws - in particular what laws (or lack of laws) might someone from the US consider strange?
>Technology - new technology adoption tendencies, current level of internet technology

Thanks

Kine

New member

Member since 09 March 2008

Kine

09 March 2008 16:54:12

Kine

09 March 2008 16:54:12

Hi!
I don't know of any link or online site that would give you these informations.
However, I'd say that Switzerland is a pretty free country!!!

Censorship: there's none and there is almost no "politically correctness", in the press or in general. BUT there is a law against racism and antisemitism that's quite taken to the letter, and some people find it censoring (? not sure about this word...)

For the technology, most of the people I know have access to Internet with DSL or cable. There are some hotspots in some cities.

I'm sorry that I can't help you more... Do you read French or German? Maybe you could go to the gvt pages under www.ch.ch, they also have something in English.
Good luck!

Eveningson

Active member

Member since 05 October 2008

morelia

A cat, my very dear friend, is not your enemy. A cat is your emperor who only thinks of your good and the good of the public.

Eveningson

13 October 2008 17:14:40

Eveningson

13 October 2008 17:14:40

morelia

Hi;

I am Canadian and know the US only culturally since we are neighbours and speak the same language. (french.. only kidding)

The key differences I think is that Switzerland is a direct democracy. This means that most laws are voted on by the people. The people can initiate new laws and even amendments to the constitution.

We do not have a fixed leader. Our leader is in office for one year. Each year we get a new president who is chosen from a group of seven. This almost executive body is composed of folks from the important parties and work things out in private. When they speak, it is with one voice. This has been strained lately since Switzerland has been under the influence of a strong right wing party the UDC that tends to be xenophobic and a lot like your Republicans.

Much of the censorship that takes place is social. Neighbours can be nosy and government tends to take place at the local communal level. We pay our income tax for example to our commune even if you are in one of 400 people. This social pressure can be quite hard to take and keeping up with the joneses can lead to problems. A strange rule is that if someone sells to a person and that person gets into debt, then the person who sold to that person gets in trouble too. You can be pulled off the street for example and made to take care of a child, etc. There is military service for all men and you have to pay taxes to your church.

Switzerland is really different and government is a private thing that goes on all of the time.

Find more topics on the Switzerland forum

Articles to help you in your expat project in Switzerland