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Which makes a lot of sense in Switzerland, since "the government is the people" is more true than in the overwhelming majority of countries on Earth. Pragmatic
by cmehdy 6y ago
Which makes a lot of sense in Switzerland, since "the government is the people" is more true than in the overwhelming majority of countries on Earth. Pragmatic take from the Swiss as usual :)
(said by a jealous French citizen)
- oumua_don17 6y agoAFAIK, Switzerland is the only country with direct democracy or ‘Govt is the people’. As you said overwhelming majority, are there any countries that have direct democracy or come close?
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- vinay427 6y agoCalifornia (not a country, obviously) is otherwise virtually comparable with Switzerland in this respect. Full constitutional amendments and legislative vetoes can occur via referendum. EDIT: In practice, larger cities in California seem to have a comparable number of referendums as well. Unfortunately, they're all bundled into an election every 1-2 years rather than the Swiss system of elections every 3-4 months. This has its upsides, mainly in turnout which is still low in much of Switzerland, but also means many "less-notable" issues often aren't discussed in CA to the same degree that they seem to be here.
- sologoub 6y agoNot familiar with the Swiss system, but CA system has some interesting nuances - laws enacted as approved propositions cannot be modified at all, except by another approved proposition. In theory, that protects them from legislative overwriting/meddling, but also does not allow to fix unintended consequences. Here’s an example where a proposition was needed to authorize state legislature to make modifications to an older proposition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_California_Proposition_7 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_California_Proposition_7 And of course, CA still has daylight savings time because this proposition required two thirds vote.
- repolitical 6y agoHave a look at Taiwan. Taiwan (the Republic of China) is another jurisdiction with direct democracy elements. Direct democratic rights have been in their constitution since 1940s, but they weren't seriously implemented until 2000s. The exercise of these rights is still relatively new in Taiwan.
- yawaworht1978 6y agoMon ami ne crois pas tout ce que tu entends.
- cmehdy 6y agoC'est pas ce que j'entends, c'est simplement les faits. Les décisions par referendum c'est grosso modo unique au monde, contrairement aux multiples couches de gouvernance qu'on peut voir dans plein d'autres pays (que ce soit le modèle Britannique/Commonwealth, les modèles des pays Latino-Américains, le modèle Français..)
- nickserv 6y agoNo worries, we'll have a proportional Assembly and citizen's initiatives any day now...