Glossary
AHV: Abbreviation of ‘Alters- und Hinterlassenenversicherung’, the compulsory Swiss pension system for old age and surviving family members, supposed to guarantee a minimal living standard after retirement or bereavement. It is the first pillar of the ‘three-pillar’ regime, which consists of the state retirement pension, the occupational pension and individual savings.Annual residence or yearly permit (official German term ‘Aufenthalter’): Legal status for foreigners permitting residence in Switzerland for one year, renewable.
Apprenticeship: Institutionalised form of vocational training common to German-speaking countries (Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Southern Tyrol) and based on a dual training programme which takes place simultaneously in a firm and at a vocational school. It generally lasts three years and its successful completion is attested by a federally controlled certificate of qualification.
Biodiversity: Diversity of biotopes, plant and animal species, and of genetic inheritance.
Biotope: Environmental area in which plant or animal species typically live, e.g. an alluvial zone, a swamp, a lake shore or a meadow.
Cantons: The Swiss territory is subdivided into 26 cantons or half-cantons, which form the political and administrative level below the national level and are the equivalent of provinces or American federal states. The cantons have a high level of autonomy in internal matters and together they form the Swiss confederation.
Carbon dioxide (CO2): Important (non-toxic) component of ambient air (about 0.04%). Excessive emission of CO2 by combustion processes is considered to be the major reason for the greenhouse effect which is in turn responsible for global warming and climatic turbulences.
Carbon monoxide (CO): Invisible and odourless gas produced by incomplete combustion of carbonaceous substances like fuel, mainly from road traffic. It acts as a respiratory poison for humans and other warm-blooded animals and contributes to the formation of ozone in the troposphere.
Concordance: Traditional, but informal, principle in Swiss politics according to which decisions should not only be based on the majority’s will (‘winner takes all’), but also to some degree on the interests of significant minorities.
Correlation coefficient: Statistical measure of the strength of the association between two variables. It can also be interpreted as a measure of the certainty or uncertainty with which the value of one variable can be predicted when the value of the other is known. A coefficient of 1.00 means that both variables vary strictly in parallel, a coefficient of -1.00 that they vary in a perfectly inverse manner, and a value of 0 that there is no statistical association between them.
Council of States: One of the legislative chambers in the bicameral federal parliament. In this Council each canton is represented by two elected councillors (a half-canton by only one).
Equivalent household income: ‘Household income per capita’ – statistical formula for comparison, reducing the income of a non-single household to that of a one-person household, based on the fact that the members do not all consume equal amounts. It divides the actual household income by the number of its members weighted according to their age and position in the household (most often one uses the disposable income, i.e. effective income less compulsory payments like taxes and social security contributions). Often the current modified OECD scale of equivalence is used, weighting the first adult by 1.0, further adults by 0.5, children by 0.5 if they are 14 years old or older, and 0.3 if they are younger.
EU-15: Member states of the European Union before its enlargement in 2004 (Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Sweden, Spain).
EU-25: Member states of the European Union before its enlargement in 2007 (EU-15 plus Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Republic of Cyprus).
Federal Council: The Swiss government, composed of seven ministers or Federal Councillors, who are elected by parliament. By informal agreement, the composition of the Federal Council reflects the electoral strength of the major political parties, which implies that the Swiss government is consistently a coalition one.
Gini index: Coefficient relating the area between the Lorenz curve and the diagonal to the area under the diagonal (0 = perfect equality, 1 = maximal inequality), thus quantifying distributional inequality.
Greenhouse effect: The glass cover of a greenhouse cumulates the incoming solar heat, thus causing the internal temperature to rise well above that of the surrounding air. The global greenhouse effect is due to the so-called greenhouse gases.
Greenhouse gases: Gases dispersed in the earth’s atmosphere prevent the reflection of incoming solar heat to a natural degree (a minimal greenhouse effect is indispensable for life on earth). The most important greenhouse gases are water vapour (H2O, among others in the form of clouds), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), laughing gas (N2O) and tropospheric ozone (O3). During the past decades human activities – above all the combustion of fossil fuel and the deforestation in the tropics – have greatly accelerated the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. For instance, that of CO2 has risen by 30% compared with the preindustrial period. This produces an additional increase in global warming.
Gross domestic product (GDP): Total market value (goods and services) produced in a given year within the country.
Gross national income (GNI): Total market value (goods and services) produced in a given year (within the country and abroad) and accruing to nationals (persons and firms domiciled in the country).
Homogamy: Marriage between socially ‘equal’ partners (religious or educational homogamy etc.). If the male partner’s level is lower than the female’s, one speaks of female hypogamy or of male hypergamy.
Initiative: One of Switzerland’s political rights by which any number of actors can propose a (partial or total) modification of the constitution. In order to be submitted to popular vote, an initiative must gain at least 100,000 valid signatures from Swiss citizens within no more than 18 months of the text’s submission to the Federal Chancellery. The amendment is accepted if the majority of voters and the majority of cantons are in favour of it. Similar rights exist on the cantonal and communal levels.
IV: Abbreviation of ‘Invalidenversicherung’, the compulsory Swiss state insurance against invalidity.
Kyoto protocol: International treaty on climate policy, accepted in December 1997. It aims at reducing greenhouse gases and at fighting global warming.
Laughing gas (Nitrous oxide, N2O): Colourless gas belonging to the group of nitrogen oxides and hence to the greenhouse gases; it has an exhilarating effect.
Lorenz curve: Graphic representation of the distribution of a quantifiable good in a given population. The X axis corresponds to the cumulative shares of the population (in percent) ranked in ascending order (in terms of their share of the good in question), the Y axis to the shares of the good, again cumulatively in percent. Departure of the resulting distribution curve from the diagonal, which corresponds to perfect equality of distribution, indicates distributional inequality; it can be quantified by the Gini index.
Matura, Maturität: Final exam in certain types of school on secondary level II giving direct access to the university level.
Median: Value of a quantitative criterion or variable (e.g., income) that divides a population ranked by this criterion in an upper and a lower half.
Meritocracy: Social order with privileges supposed to be based on achievement or other criteria of personal merit (literally ‘dominance of the deserving’). Contemporary societies mostly present themselves as meritocratic, although this is true only to a certain degree; socially education is the most consequential criterion of ‘merit’.
Methane (CH4): Inflammable gas produced, among others, by putrefaction under the exclusion of air (e.g. by animal and human digestion, in bogs etc.). Methane is a natural greenhouse gas.
Moving average: Mean value calculated by using several consecutive values around the time point considered, used to ‘average out’ short-term fluctuations and to increase the visibility of overall trends.
National Council: One of the legislative chambers in the bicameral federal parliament, composed according to the principle of proportionality, i.e. depending on the electoral strength of the political parties, with the cantons functioning as electoral districts.
Net occupational earnings: Income after deduction of social security contributions at source.
Nitrate: Water-soluble salt of nitric acid that enters the groundwater through the food chain or in the form of chemical fertilisers. In sufficient concentration it is a health risk and an important factor in the overfertilisation of waterbodies (excessive development of algae) and in the disequilibria of fauna in nutrient-poor habitats such as swamps.
Nitrogen oxides (NOx): Air pollutants (nitrogen monoxide and nitrogen dioxide) produced by the combustion of fuels (above all in motor vehicles). They can lead to respiratory problems, multiple damage to plants, and to the overfertilisation of ecosystems. They are precursors of acid rain, of secondary aerosols and – in combination with volatile organic compounds – of photo-oxydants (ozone, summer smog).
Ozone (O3): Air pollutant resulting from the chemical reaction of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds under the impact of sunlight. It creates atmospheric load in peri-urban regions and stems mainly from traffic, industry and artisanship. Atmospheric ozone can irritate the mucosae, provoke respiratory problems and reduce lung capacity; it is also damageable to plants. In the stratosphere, ozone functions as a greenhouse gas.
Permanent residence (official German term ‘Niedergelassene’): Legal status for foreigners permitting unlimited residence and freedom of choice with regard to occupation as well as to the place of domicile, but no substantial political rights.
Phosphorus (P): Chemical element that is essential for the build-up and functioning of living organisms. Agriculture uses phosphated fertilisers to increase plant yield. In waterbodies, too, the production of vegetal biomass depends directly on the availability of phosphate. Additional input of nutrients, particularly phosphate, increases the production of algae and water plants which leads to eutrophication and consequently to suffocation, because the decomposition and mineralization of dead algae consumes solved oxygen. Thus, the more algae there are, the less oxygen remains in the water, especially in the depths. Below a certain threshold (4 mg of oxygen per litre), the living conditions become insufficient for aquatic flora and fauna.
Pre-vocational education (‘Anlehre’): ‘Light’ form of apprenticeship for young people who are seemingly insufficiently qualified to start a full apprenticeship, providing an officially acknowledged certificate of aptitude.
Primary school level: First level of the compulsory schooling period (first to fifth or sixth year).
Quintile: Fifth (20%) of a population.
Quintile ratio: Measure of distributional inequality that compares the volumes of a quantitative good accruing to the most endowed fifth (20%) to that of the least endowed fifth of the population (typical examples: income, wealth).
Referendum: Federal laws, generalisable governmental ordinances and permanent international treaties (including membership of intergovernmental organisations) are subject to optional referendum: they are submitted to popular vote if at least 50,000 citizens request it by valid signature within 100 days of publication; they are accepted if a simple majority of voters is achieved. Constitutional amendments undergo the referendum by definition, they are accepted if a double voting majority (i.e. of voters and of cantons) is achieved. Similar rights exist on the cantonal and communal levels.
Reproduction: Re-establishment or perpetuation of a previous situation. More specifically, reproduction of inequalities means that in the generation changeover from parents to children, the inegalitarian positioning remains the same, i.e. there is no upward or downward mobility of the younger generation. Demographic reproduction means that the population size does not change. This terminological precision is necessary because social situations do not exist naturally, but are socially constructed. This implies that their possible perpetuation cannot be adequately explained by the sheer absence of changing factors, but also depends on the prevalence of processes that maintain the status quo.
Respirable dust: Small particles of nano size or slightly above, invisible to the eye, that form a complex physico-chemical mix of natural and technical pollutants (soot, geological material, abrasion dust, biological substances as well as heavy metals, sulphate, nitrate, ammonium, organic carbon, hydrocarbon, dioxins, furans). They stem above all from industry, agri- and sylviculture and from motor traffic. Heavy metals, dioxins and furans in respirable dust are noxious for health, particularly through the alimentary chain. Respirable dust and soot are damageable to the respiratory and the cardiovascular systems, thereby increasing the risk of cancer and mortality.
Rhaeto-Romanic: Fourth national language in Switzerland, of Latin origin, spoken in some regions of the canton of the Grisons.
Romandie: French-speaking part of Switzerland (Romands: inhabitants of that region).
Secondary level I: Types of schooling that follow the basic (primary) level and belong to the compulsory schooling period (Sekundarschule, Bezirksschule, Cycle d’orientation, Realschule).
Secondary level II: Types of schooling that follow secondary level I and can take the form of general schooling or of vocational training (e.g. Gymnasium, Fachmittelschule, Berufslehre = apprenticeship, Berufsmittelschule). Some of them (Mittelschule, Gymnasium, Collège) end with the so-called maturity exam that gives direct access to the university level.
Short-term residence (official German term ‘Kurzaufenthalter’): Legal status for foreigners, existing in various forms, generally valid for not more than one year and terminating on realisation of the specific objective of the stay in Switzerland (e.g., obtaining a diploma).
Stigmatisation: Ascription of social disesteem (negative labelling) to individuals or groups; plays a major role in discrimination (e.g. in the form of unequal chances) and its legitimation.
Sulphur dioxide (SO2): Invisible, acrid air pollutant produced by the combustion of sulphur-containing fuels (e.g. coal, heating oil). If concentrated, it leads to respiratory troubles, to multiple damage to plants and sensitive ecosystems, as well as to the erosion of buildings; acid rain results largely from sulphur dioxide.
Tertiary level: University level of the educational system (university, polytechnic high school, university of applied science).
Volatile organic compounds (VOC; if methane is not included, NMVOC is used for non-methane volatile organic compounds): Compounds belonging to various chemical families (such as aromatic carbohydrates, ketones, alcohols, aldehydes) that evaporate easily at normal temperatures due to their low boiling point and diffuse in the form of gas. They have an important role in the formation of ground level ozone. These air pollutants are emitted by construction material (isolating foams, paints, fitted carpets, linoleum, varnishes, treated wooden frames and floors), sprays (insecticides, cosmetics), resins, combustion and cooking; cleaning products and glues are also punctual sources. All these items cause direct emissions into the atmosphere.
Wage ratio: Share of wages in the national income.
Update: FORS