The advantages of the militia and the drawbacks of professionalization

The shortcomings of the militia principle enshrined in Swiss DNA would be even more pronounced in a more professionalized system.

A translated extract from Gerhard Schwarz's book Die Schweiz hat Zukunft (references at the end of the article).

When I travel to neighboring countries and interact with local authorities and political players, I realize just how much what we call the militia sets us apart from them, and what a powerful glue it represents. In neighboring countries, the elites are not only wary of the people, who could take extremist decisions, but also of the non-professionals who make up the executives, the political world and the administration. Conversely, Switzerland is skeptical about the professionalization of the entire public sector. This also explains why even the judiciary is not seen as a professional institution.