[Event] Testing the Waters

The Swiss Confederacy has traditionally been a highly decentralized state, operating by voluntary agreement between its component cantons. However, a number of recent developments have begun to dispute this concept of voluntary and decentralized leadership, to the point that most high-level decisions are made by a governing body that can describe itself as being superior to the individual cantons.

Among the recent precedents for centralization have been:

• The reform of the Tagsatzung, which placed significant executive powers into the hands of a central governing body;
• The first and second major infrastructural investments by the centralized Tagsatzung, both strongly successful;
• The absorption of many associates, most voluntarily but some with military force;
• The ruling of neutrality of religion, which applied a uniform policy of Christian religious tolerance to the cantons;
• The issuance of invitations to neighboring states by the Tagsatzung to join as associates of the Confederacy;
• The purchase by the Tagsatzung of ownership of Geneva, using funds from the shared cantonal treasury.

Few of these actions have gone with major dispute by the cities, such that in many respects the Swiss Confederacy is a confederacy no longer, but rather something of a weak federation. The representatives of the Tagsatzung, always interested in expanding their own power, are now considering in somewhat-hushed meetings the concept of further reforming the Confederacy into such a federated state by law as well as precedent.

Of course, this carries the risk of opposition by the cantons; perhaps they have been willing to allow their independence to slowly erode, but will balk at the concept of losing privileges officially as well as practically.

To ensure the least risk, then, the Tagsatzung has authorized the spending of 20,000 ducats on discreetly surveying the general opinion of both the common people and local governing officials on the idea of further-centralizing reforms, when considering the wealth that past policies by the central council have brought to the cantons.

If the general attitude is conducive to reform, it is thought that the next step may be to gather a diet from around the nation to determine the scope and organization of a remade federal authority.