Gov: Swiss alternative(more local control, weaker+smaller central gov)

[theinvisibleheart]

Switzerland have a very weak central government and very strong
local government (cantons). Local government are more responsive and
flexible compared to central government.

http://www.switzerland.isyours.com/e/swiss-business-guide/Self-rule.html

When new issues arise (for instance, money laundering scandals and
the subsequent pressure to change rules and practice), Parliament
passes the minimum laws needed to satisfy public opinion and
international policy needs, and the rest is left to the private
professional association to sort out. Sensitive as they are to the
threat of new, less flexible laws, the associations enforce stricter
regulations on their members so that they can avoid new scandals while
maintaining control over part of the regulatory process.

http://www.switzerland.isyours.com/e/swiss-business-guide/Corruption.html

Corruption is almost unheard of in Switzerland, and when scandals
happen, they are only on scale of the country itself. Judge for
yourself: one of the biggest recent scandals caused the resignation of
a Federal Councilor (halfway between a Minister and the President),
and the first woman to reach that level to boot. So what terrible
crime did Ms.Kopp commit? Did she receive commissions for arms deals?
Or maybe she helped herself to the State's treasury? Eh bien non.
While she was the head of the Justice Department, she learned that her
husband, a wealthy Zurich businessman, was going to be investigated by
the police for alleged money laundering. She called him up saying,
"they are on their way" from her office. When this phone call was
discovered, she immediately resigned in January 1989 (how it was
discovered is another story). Incidentally, Mr. Kopp was later cleared
of all charges.

In general, you want to reduce the level of intermediation and make
government as close to local control as possible. Furthermore, you
want to minimize entrenched bureaucracy as they are not elected and
don't face competition(think Post Office).

 

[rbrgs]

But then how could we have an empire?

We should all consider whether we want to be like Switzerland, a stable, peaceful, rich nation that no one f***s with; or Rome, republic to empire to 1000yrs or dark ages.

Our national interest is not served by messing with other people's countries; no one else has historical amnesia, they don't forgive or forget (the Mexicans are still mad about 1836-40, and Iranians haven't forgotten that they had a democracy until the CIA forced the Shah on them, I could go on ...).

It may sound trite, but what goes around really does come around.