By Cláudia Ascensão Nunes

Switzerland is the freest country in the world, according to the Human Freedom Index. Small in territory but giant in institutional autonomy, it has built a decentralized, monetarily stable, and deeply participatory democracy, all outside the European Union.

While Member States have no alternative to the uniform directives designed in Brussels, Switzerland negotiates sectoral agreements according to its national interest and the democratic consent of its citizens. The new “Bilaterals III” package, whose entry into force depends on approval by the Swiss Parliament and possibly a referendum, is a reminder that there is an alternative to the European integrationist “one size fits all” model.

Switzerland’s institutional architecture limits central power. Executive authority is not concentrated in a single figure, but exercised collegially by a seven-member Federal Council. The President of the Confederation, elected for only one year, performs essentially representative functions. The system was designed to prevent the personalization of power and to avoid prolonged concentrations of authority.

The cantons, federal states with almost total fiscal and administrative autonomy, compete with one another in taxation, regulation, and public policy. This institutional competition creates permanent incentives for efficiency and imposes........

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