Peter HorvathThe next few posts will analyze the ecosystem and processes of Swiss direct democracy. If you do not live in Switzerland, chances are good that you are not familiar with this form of democracy. Don’t worry, below is a quick summary, and the upcoming posts will dig into the details.
Swiss direct democracy can be summarized by saying that Swiss citizens have the first and final say, bring their own ideas into politics, can start political debates and public deliberation even against the political elite. They can do this by challenging laws issued by parliament, and starting new initiatives through institutionalized and binding processes. Self-rule comes from the fact that Switzerland was built by independent Cantons from the bottom up, not from top down, leading to balanced politics. Government and parliament do not have complete control over political agenda-setting. Rather the constant risk of laws being challenged by citizens induces cooperation and intensive parliamentary consultation with many political, social and economic players in the ecosystem. The overall result is that once decisions are made, they are backed by a large constructive majority coalition of officials, and acknowledged as collectively binding by citizens.
Posts under the “Swiss Direct Democracy” category will explain what this ecosystem looks like, and what its processes are.
