The Referendum
16 January 2023
There is another player besides Switzerland’s parliament and government: the citizens. Referendums can always confront the (federal, cantonal and municipal) decision-makers with other points of view.
The Constitution covers three types of federal referendums. (The cantons and municipalities have their referendums).
Mandatory referendum
A mandatory referendum (das obligatorische Referendum) must take place if the Constitution stipulates it, for example, in cases of changes to the Constitution or membership in international organizations or the European Union (rejected in 1992 by 50.3%, and once more in 2001 by 77% of the voters. Today, probably by around 80-85% of voters).
Optional referendum
The second referendum is the optional referendum (das facultative Referendum). Citizens must collect at least 50,000 signatures within 100 days to request a referendum on federal law or other decisions. Citizens can express their views on various subjects every three months. The issues vary from cowbells to taxes.
People’s Initiative
The People’s Initiative (die Volksinitiatieve) is another referendum about constitutional changes. At least 100,000 citizens must support the Initiative. At least eight cantons can also request a referendum (Kantonsreferendum). This has not happened for long, but the idea is gaining momentum.
The constitution will adopt the text of this initiative when a majority of voters are in favour. The government can also initiate a counter-initiative to give the citizens an alternative. The Swiss Constitution is the only one that contains citizens’ daily concerns. It is worth the effort to read this Constitution in detail.
Functioning
An absolute majority is decisive, and federal decision-makers must respect the outcome of such referendums.
It is a double yes in the people’s initiative and mandatory referendum, an absolute majority in the country and a majority of votes per canton in the senate. In other words, there can be a majority nationally, but by counting the ballots per canton, a majority of the cantons can be against it. This happens regularly. The rural cantons with few inhabitants have the same voting weight as the urban, densely populated cantons.
The absolute majority in the optional referendum is decisive.
Conclusion
Not all referendums are equally interesting or mobilize a significant number of voters. That is not the point, however. A referendum is crucial because politicians can never forsake their duties or act in bad faith. Someone is always watching them. Like every system, it has disadvantages. It slows down procedures and decision-making and sometimes hampers changes. On the other hand, it protects the country from (opportunistic) delusions of the establishment. It is also an obstacle to the emergence of oligarchies and their networks.
The establishment must always consider all the arguments of organizations and citizens. The presence of citizens at all levels (municipal, cantona,l, and federal) for all political decisions is one of the pillars of Swiss democracy: the rule of law, (social) cohesion, and prosperity. It also confirms a modern, open, self-confident democracy and society. The government is there for the citizens, not the other way around!
Direct democracy can only function with independent media and civil society. This is (still) the case in Switzerland.
(Source: A. Vatter, Das Parlament in der Schweiz, Basel, 2018).