Uni Bern Magazin: Thema Politics and administration

Democracy, public management, global trade

Politics and administration

What makes the Federal Council and Parliament tick, what distinguishes Swiss federalism, what goes on in European politics and what makes for an efficient administration? The University of Bern is very well networked in the Swiss political centre and sees itself as a university for the capital region.

Current

Educational research

Who makes it to university is often predictable at birth

In Switzerland, a person’s career path depends not only on their academic performance, but also on their parents: With the same performance, children from academic families have twice as much chance of obtaining a university degree as children from non-academics.

Guest lecture

Edward L. Glaeser asks: what makes cities competitive?

In a lecture at the University of Bern, American economist Edward L. Glaeser discussed the question of how cities can better prepare for challenges. After all, urbanization is increasing, which means there is a need for sufficient housing and efficient infrastructure.

World Trade Institute

Will Trump derail world trade?

The World Trade Institute (WTI) has been a major influence on international trade law for 25 years. Founder Thomas Cottier and director of studies Isabelle Van Damme discuss what the Trump presidency means for world trade and what the WTI can contribute to solving the current challenges.

Conference on women in trade

«Gender neutral trade is a myth»

At the World Trade Institute (WTI), experts from all over developed proposals for the advancement of women. An interview with the two pioneers Elisa Fornalé from the WTI and Anoush der Boghossian from the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Simonetta Sommaruga teaches at the University of Bern

To the media release (in German)

Former Federal Councillor Simonetta Sommaruga will lead the seminar ‘Governance in Theory and Practice’ at the Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences together with Adrian Vatter in the spring semester of 2025.

People

Scientist portrait

Changing power structures with law

Judith Wyttenbach is a specialist in constitutional and international law. She sees the law as an instrument for changing power structures – and not as dry as many people think. As a mother, however, she sometimes wishes she had a 36-hour day.

Scientist portrait

How people form political opinions

Isabelle Stadelmann-Steffen conducts research into how people make decisions in different political contexts. This is particularly important in Switzerland with its direct democracy. In the video, she also talks about why she works part-time (80%).

Teaching scientific thinking

Aymo Brunetti: How political would you like it to be?

How do professors manage to keep the discourse in their courses open and unbiased? And what experiences do they have outside the lecture halls with attempts at political appropriation? An economist expresses his own opinion.

The research project

Working with Africa to optimise administrations

Researchers at the Centre for African Smart Public Value Governance (C4SP) study practices in Africa and aim to use this knowledge to strengthen African governments and administrations through local cooperation.

Political science

Moving slowly towards an environmental law

What is politics doing to make the environment a better place? Political scientist Karin Ingold is examining which processes and mechanisms lead to a new law. She freely admits that it is often non-political influences that bring about changes in behavior or stricter legislation.