Note: While the share of the communes has not varied much over time, the roles of the federation and the cantons have changed. The relative decline in the federal share of expenditure and revenue in favour of the cantons indicates non-centralization in periods of growth of the public sector, which is different from most other countries.

Source: Wolf Linder, 'Local Government in Switzerland', in Joachim Jens Hesse, Local Government and Urban Affairs in International Perspective (Baden-Baden: Nomos, 1991), p. 409ff.

Figure 2.1 Federal, cantonal and local expenditure and revenue, 1950-85