The Swiss cantons dispose of a strong autonomy with manifold competences. In an international perspective, Swiss federalism can be called a ‘decentralized’ federalism. This means that changes in the direction of centralization require justification, whereas in the ‘unitary’ federalism of Germany, it is decentralization and competition which need to be justified (Braun 2003). However, during the last couple of decades, one could observe a certain tendency towards more coordination between the cantons and more centralization. The federal level plays a proactive role, which is backed by the citizens. This may be a consequence of enhanced competition between the European regions, economies of scale and scope which can be better used in a larger perimeter, and the expectations of citizens that cantons should provide a more comparable level of service provision. The small scale of the Swiss cantons is considered to be an obstacle. Amalgamations might appear to be a way of resolving these problems, but the Swiss cantons and the Confederation have chosen a more pragmatic way of coordination, in favour of keeping the responsiveness and proximity of the present small cantons towards their citizens and keeping the tax competition.