53% of Americans are "very bothered" by the complexity of the US tax system – rightly so, explains Prof. Peter Hongler in this episode of "Views from the Sister Republic". While it bears some similarities to the Swiss one, it differs in many important aspects, such as the lack of a value-added tax (VAT). What are the reasons for these differences? What should we make of Donald J. Trump’s ideas? And what changes would an expert prioritize?

Prof. Peter Hongler dives into these questions and shows that taxes can be quite fun to discuss! Peter joined the University of St.Gallen in 2019 as chaired professor of tax law. He serves as the director of the Institute of Law and Economics (ILE-HSG).

Book recommendation: The Myth of Ownership: Taxes and Justice : Murphy, Liam B., Nagel, Thomas

Seit Donald J. Trump wieder im Amt ist scheinen die USA und die Welt in fieberhafter Erregung. Nie wurde so minutiös über jede Amtshandlung eines Präsidenten berichtet, wie dies bei Trump der Fall ist. Dabei überbieten sich die Medien in dystopischen Zukunftsszenarien. Doch wie viel ist auf die Prognosen jener zu geben, die einen Wahlsieg Kamala Harris’ vorausgesagt haben? Auch deutschsprachige Medien tun sich schwer damit, Amerika den Puls zu nehmen und der Öffentlichkeit zu vermitteln, wie (unterschiedlich) das Land tickt. Warum das so ist, diskutieren wir in dieser Folge mit Peter Hossli.

Mit 29 Jahren zog Peter Hossli nach New York, um als freischaffender Journalist Fuss zu fassen. Seither hat er aus 48 Staaten berichtet, 9/11 hautnah erlebt und immer wieder neue Zugänge zu diesem Land ergründet, das ihn nicht mehr loslässt. Seit seiner Rückkehr in die Schweiz hat er zwei Bücher geschrieben: Die erste Miete ging an die Mafia (2018) über sein Leben als Reporter und Revolverchuchi: Mordfall Stadelmann (2022) über eines der grausamsten Verbrechen der Schweizer Geschichte. Neben der eigenen journalistischen Tätigkeit lehrt er als Direktor der Ringier Journalistenschule sein Handwerk und produziert mit Nicoletta Cimmino den Podcast «1776» über die USA.

Diese Episode wurde live am OPEN SQUARE der Universitität St.Gallen am 22. März 2025 aufgenommen. Fotograf Episode Image: Ingo Hoehn

Already in his first run for the presidency, Donald J. Trump promised voters to "drain the swamp" and reign in the administrative state. To this end, the new administration created the temporary Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) which – under the controversial guidance of Elon Musk – intends to save the federal state one to two trillion US Dollars. For the past few weeks, various measures by DOGE have led some to claim that we are currently witnessing an "administrative coup" or a "coup from within". But is that indeed the case? And how revolutionary are the measures pursued by DOGE?

Professor Hiroshi Okayama joins us to discuss these questions and to explain what is actually meant by "the administrative state". He is a sought-after expert on US politics in Japan where he holds a professorship at Keio University’s Law School. He spent several years in the United States as a visiting researcher, twice at Cornell University and once at the University of Virginia. His most recent monograph is the result of his long-time interest in the history of the administrative state: Judicializing the Administrative State: The Rise of the Independent Regulatory Commissions in the United States, 1883-1937.

His book recommendation:

Ungoverning: The Attack on the Administrative State and the Politics of Chaos by Nancy L. Rosenblum and Russell Muirhead

In May 2021, the British weekly The Economist declared Taiwan to be "The Most Dangerous Place on Earth." While the advent of war in the Middle East and Ukraine suggest that the 2021 cover story was hyperbolic, the small island in the South China Sea is indeed at the center of a conflict that is repeatedly called "the New Cold War": Taiwan’s future is contingent on US-Chinese relations. And these also affect the rest of the world, not least export-driven economies such as Switzerland. How much has the situation of Taiwan been affected by changing US Administrations? What does Taiwan expect – or fear – from Donald J. Trump’s return to the White House? And what aspects of Chinese-US relations should we pay most attention to in Europe?

Professor Simona Grano is the right person to ask all that: a Senior Lecturer at the University of Zurich, her studies of Sinology at Ca’Foscari University of Venice quickly led her develop a regional expertise beyond the People’s Republic of China. In her research, she likewise addresses the challenges of Hong Kong and Taiwan. She regularly comments on developments in the region in the media.

Die Idee, dass die Schweiz und die USA «Schwesterrepubliken» respektive «Sister Republics» sind, reicht bis ins 18. Jahrhundert zurück. Kurz nach der amerikanischen Unabhängigkeitserklärung schrieb der Berner Gelehrte Jean-Rodolphe Vautravers keinem geringeren als Benjamin Franklin: «Lasst uns vereint sein als Schwester-Republiken.» Anlässlich der 700-Jahr-Feier der Eidgenossenschaft 1991 beschwor auch die Library of Congress in Washington D.C. diese schwesterliche Bande. In einem Begleitband dazu hiess es: «Von 1776 an verliefen die politischen Entwicklungen in beiden Ländern oft parallel, und an geschichtlichen Wendepunkten diente die Verfassung des einen Landes derjenigen des anderen als Modell.»

Die Modellhaftigkeit der amerikanischen Verfassung ist vielen bekannt und sie ist augenfällig, wenn wir unser Zweikammersystem mit jenem der USA vergleichen. Aber inwiefern auch die Schweiz für Amerika Modell stand? Das beleuchten wir in dieser Folge mit Professor Stefan G. Schmid, der – nach Stationen in Zürich, Bern und Berkeley – seit 2019 an der Universität St.Gallen einen Lehrstuhl für Öffentliches Recht innehat. In seiner Habilitationsschrift widmet er sich einem besonderen Schweizer Exportgut: dem Referendum.

Buchnachweis:

Stefan G. Schmid. Das Referendum in den USA. Eine verfassungsgeschichtlich-staatsrechtliche Untersuchung unter besonderer Berücksichtigung historischer Bezüge zur Schweizer Referendumsdemokratie. DIKE/Nomos, 2022.

Zur Illustration:

Urheberrecht: public domain

Beschreibung in Stefans Buch, S.165: Die Schweiz bietet der Welt das Referendum an («Le Referendum en Suisse.») Unten von links: die Personifikationen der USA, des Deutschen Kaiserreichs, der Französischen Republik und des Vereinigten Königreichs Grossbritannien und Irland. Urheber: Daniel Carter Beard

Veröffentlicht im Magazin «Cosmpolitan» im Jahr 1893.

Inaugural addresses serve several purposes: Presidents outline their agenda, they signal American citizens that they will serve all of them, irrespective of their background and beliefs, and they reassure America's allies of their ongoing support. While Donald J. Trump did indeed announce his agenda and his next steps, his second inaugural address was unusually partisan and combative.

Reading suggestion:

How to Hide an Empire: A Short History of the Greater United States by Daniel Immerwahr (DE: Das heimliche Imperium: Die USA als moderne Kolonialmacht)

During his election campaign, Donald J. Trump promised to end Russia’s war against Ukraine within 24 hours. Ever since, pundits and scholars have debated the success rate of such an endeavor and, more generally, the implications of Trump 2.0 for Ukraine’s future. Yet to assess such scenarios, it is necessary to look back at the path that led Russia to war and how its relations with both the US, Ukraine, and the EU evolved in the past decades. This episode looks at this complicated history with Professor Michael Kimmage whose book Collisions: The Origins of the War in Ukraine and the New Global Instability was published in 2024 to critical and scholarly acclaim.

Michael Kimmage has a truly transatlantic perspective on US-Russian relations: with a doctorate from Harvard and Bachelor degrees from both Oberlin College and Oxford University, he has spent several years teaching and doing research in Europe, for instance at LMU and Vilnius University. He was a professor of history at the Catholic University of America from 2005 until the end of 2024, and he will now start as the director of Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute. From 2014 until 2017, he served in the US State Department. He has written several books and his analysis is frequently published in, among many, Foreign Affairs.

And here are Michael Kimmage’s reading recommendations:

1. Margaret MacMillan: Paris 1919: Six Months that Changed the World
2. Richard Pipes: The Russian Revolution (also available in German)
3. Serhii Plokhy: The Russo-Ukrainian War and The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine

‘tis the season to be merry! Every year, the First Lady gets to preside over the Christmas decorations at the White House and the president gets to spread festive cheer. This might sound very unpolitical, but every so often the choice of tinsel causes a stir. Join the host Claudia Brühwiler for a short walk down a seasonal walk down presidential memory lane.

Links

America’s Favorite Christmas Movies Ranked by State