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And yet, the option to take part in a series of referendums works splendidly in Switzerland [1]. This is also what I've anecdotally observed from living in Swit
by sebmellen 6y ago
And yet, the option to take part in a series of referendums works splendidly in Switzerland [1]. This is also what I've anecdotally observed from living in Switzerland.
Perhaps, if the option to vote on an issue were presented often, people would have time to change their minds and would become more involved in the voting process. The reason a second referendum on Brexit wasn't held was because it was deemed infeasible. Not so with electronic voting.
1: http://direct-democracy.geschichte-schweiz.ch/switzerlands-system-referendums.html http://direct-democracy.geschichte-schweiz.ch/switzerlands-s...
- fsh 6y agoI would argue that the Swiss system only "works" because the people reject the vast majority of referendums and let the elected parliament do the actual policy work. In total, only 22 have been successful since 1891. Most of them were on populist issues (often fueled by xenophobia) and had little to no influence on everyday life.
- sebmellen 6y agoThat is simply not true. There have been hundreds of successful referendums, many on non-xenophobic issues, and what's the problem with populism? The point of a democracy is to be populist! Take 2006: - Financial aid to new EU members, 2006-11-26, overall result: YES - Standardized extra pay for families, 2006-11-26, overall result: YES ---- > How many referendums are successfully passed? > The Swiss have been called on to vote around 306 times since 1848 for a total of 617 proposals. In total, 299 proposals have been passed while 334 have been rejected. From: https://www.thelocal.ch/20190517/why-does-switzerland-have-so-many-referendums https://www.thelocal.ch/20190517/why-does-switzerland-have-s...