Swiss direct democracy is the part of life friends from abroad find hardest to understand. Four times a year, a thick grey envelope lands in our letterbox, and the voters in our family sit at the kitchen table deciding on everything from immigration policy to whether we should get more holidays. After 25 years here, the envelope still feels remarkable.
Below, Ellen captures what that feels like from her Australia/Swiss perspective. – Kristin
What Makes Swiss Direct Democracy Different
Most of the world lives under representative democracy: you elect politicians, and they make the laws. Direct democracy, where citizens vote on the laws themselves, sounds nice in theory and impossibly complicated in practice. Switzerland disagrees: since 1848, the Swiss have voted in well over 500 national referendums.
For example, I have been Australian for 39 years, and in that time, the government has asked the public their direct opinion exactly three times. Once in 1999, deciding whether to leave the British monarchy and become a republic (a weak no). Once in 2017 when the government spent $120 million to run a non-binding postal plebiscite to ask whether same-sex marriage should be made legal (a resounding yes!). And again in 2023 with the failed referendum to give Australian First Nations people are voice in parliament.
In contrast, I have been officially Swiss for nine years, and I have already been asked my opinion in many, many, public votes, each time covering approximately 4-10 specific initiatives, spanning federal, state and local issues.
To clarify, this is not because it’s been an especially political few years; instead, since 1848, Switzerland citizens’ haven been asked their opinion well over 500 times.
It turns out not all democracies are created equal, and Switzerland is serving up the gold standard.
Ok, how does this work?
The Three Types of Swiss Public Votes
There are three main types of public votes:
Mandatory Referendum: Changing the Constitution
If the federal government has proposed a change to the constitution, it must be put to a public vote and achieve a double majority (a majority of people and majority of cantons)
Optional Referendum: 50,000 Signatures to Challenge a Law
For other laws passed by Parliament, any citizen has the right to object to such law and request that it’s put to a public vote – they just need to collect 50,000 signatures within 100 days of the proposed law change being published
Popular Initiative: How Any Citizen Can Propose a Law
This is the interesting one, where anyone can bring forward a proposed new law or policy for a public vote, providing they set up a committee of 7-27 people, write up their official proposal and then collect 100,000 signatures within 18 months.
How Swiss Voting Day Actually Works
Public polls take place three to four times each year, with each poll likely to include several questions, at the federal, state and local level. The official voting date is always a Sunday, but everyone receives a postal voting form a few weeks earlier. Included is a detailed booklet that outlines the main arguments on each side of every question, as well as a clear indication of how elected politicians would vote on each issue (which you’re, of course, completely welcome to ignore). Also, the country is likely holding up the world’s cardboard business, as thousands of campaign placards cover the country in the weeks preceding any vote.
The system is, of course, a lot more detailed and complex than I can feasibly explain in a few hundred words, so if you’d like to learn more, check out the Swiss government site, even available in English.
Famous Swiss Votes: Picasso, Holidays, and Cow Horns. Anything Interesting Votes?
‘Interesting’ is quite subjective, but I think when you consider the privilege of getting to have such a direct say in the running of your country, most things become quite interesting. In any one public poll, you may find yourself voting on a federal immigration issue, a proposal for a new aquarium, the preferred starting age for learning specific foreign languages in schools, and the construction of a local train station.
There are a few public votes in the past that have always stuck with me as being fascinating examples of Switzerland’s direct democracy at work:
The Picasso Vote
In 1967, the people of Basel voted on whether to spend 6 million francs of government funds to purchase two Picasso paintings that had been on long-term loan to the local Kunstmuseum, but were now to be sold. With a strong pro-arts campaign, the vote passed! Picasso was still alive at the time and was so moved by the fact that the public had voted to invest in his works that he ended up donating another four works. As a result, the Basel Kunstmuseum now has the largest collection of Picasso works outside of Spain.
The Holiday Vote
I wish I had a photo of my face back in 2012 when someone first told me there was going to be a national vote on whether people wanted to increase mandatory holiday days from 20 per year to 30 per year. ‘What? I don’t understand. Why on earth would you spend money on such a vote? Surely it would be a 100% shoo-in yes vote?’.
It turns out I really did not yet understand the Swiss, because not only did this go to a public vote, but when asked whether they would like more holidays, the people voted NO! It turns out the Swiss pride in having such a healthy and prosperous economy is stronger than their desire for another week in Italy over the summer.
The Cow Horn Vote
In 2018, all Swiss citizens voted on whether farmers should receive subsidies to encourage them not to dehorn their cows. The initiative had been started years ago by a local farmer, wanting to give the cows a voice (yep, even the cows participate in Swiss democracy), and was only narrowly defeated, 54/46 %.
I am still in awe of this incredible system of direct democracy, and as a Swiss citizen myself now, quite proud. I never feel more Swiss than when I am voting, and I will reach peak Swissness the day that I vote against more holidays.
With the amount of exciting content on the internet today, congratulations if you have made it to the end of an article about Swiss politics. As a reward, I’ve written an article explaining my other favourite element of the Swiss political system; the fact that they don’t really have any one ruling party or person!
