Info on Swiss Direct Democracy

swissboy

Every on and then there is a thread talking about direct democracy and Switzerland will be mentioned. Yet it seems most people are not familiar with the workings, other than "Switzerland is a direct democracy".

Firstly, Switzerland is not a direct democracy, but a half direct half representative democracy at the federal, canton level (equivalent of County) and in most cities/towns. Only a few smaller villages still have a full direct democracy.

The main element that differentiates Swiss democracy and other democracy is the clear ways that people can call a referendum or add a piece of legislation. The examples below are an a Federal level, at the cantonal level or city/town level it is similar but often the number of signatures are smaller.

Every legislation that is agreed on has 100 days between the decision and the implementation, during which the legislation can be challenged. Here 50 000 signatures or at least 8 (out of 26) cantons need to want a vote on the law. If that is the case, that piece of legislation is voted on, requiring only a single majority (i.e. over 50% agree).

The other main way is a Citizen's Initiative, where once 100 000 signatures are collected on a initiative, that initiative must go to the parliament, who can then put forth a counter proposal. Before the signatures are collected, it is checked to see if it goes against any treaties or if it is misleading or interpretable title. This checking is done by the Federal Chancellery of Switzerland. Often this will result in three possible outcomes, initiative is accepted, counterproposal is accepted or both are rejected and it stays as it is.

Commonly the voting is done thought mail or voting booth, but some cantons have started using Internet voting. Swiss people living abroad also get to vote through mail.

I hope this help clarify what Swiss Direct Democracy really is about, as even we Swiss say "we have a direct democracy" when really it is a half-direct democracy.