Argumentation in institutional founding documents. The case of Switzerland’s "Foedus Pactum"

In this paper, we intend to explore more in depth such a constitutive function of argumentation by examining its role in the discursive acts that human beings perform in order to give birth to an institutional entity. As a case in point, the Foedus Pactum Helveticum is analyzed. This Charter is at the origin of the Swiss Confederation. Some explanations about the reasons why Switzerland is today rightly considered one of the most stable and effective democratic states over the worlds can be found in the content of this document, in particular in the arguments brought by the “coniurati” to accomplish their alliance. Moreover, the reasons declared by the “Waldstätten” to justify their decision to promise mutual assistance have an important symbolic relevance and could hardly be detached from the factors having promoted the further relationships that over time gave shape to the modern Swiss Federal State.