Can citizens’ assemblies strengthen Swiss democracy?

A citizens’ assembly was recently held in the village of Thalwil in canton Zurich. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Several Swiss municipalities are trying out a system of selecting citizens by lot to debate important issues like climate change. Everyone has a say, regardless of their age or the colour of their passport. SWI swissinfo.ch listens in on one such citizens’ assembly in a village in canton Zurich.

The debate on climate change is taking place inside the auditorium of an old people’s home. An elderly speaker takes the floor.

“I don’t know,” he says. “I’m not an expert but this is how I see it.”

His audience is more diverse than any parliament in Switzerland. In all, 22 participants chosen by lottery based on their age, gender, education and political leanings are gathered in the auditorium. Seven of them do not own a Swiss passport, and one of them is a minor. What they have in common is their place of residence: the village of Thalwil in canton Zurich.

Around 18,000 people live in this community on the shores of Lake Zurich. There is no local parliament, which means the fate of the community is decided by a municipal government that consists of eight men and one woman. Recently, the municipality introduced a citizens’ assembly to discuss climate change at the local level. The way the people of the village exchange their views on these types of issues is very different from the way politicians go about it. There are no campaigns, no slick-talking politicians, and no pretenders – just real people having honest conversations.

Thalwil is the third and final municipality in canton Zurich to participate in the pilot project for citizens’ assemblies that are currently making waves in Switzerland. They aim to strengthen democracy and the way the country is handling the climate crisis. Extinction Rebellion, a radical climate protection group, has repeatedly called for such citizens’ assemblies. The real impact of these forums remains unclear, however. Much of it depends on how they are implemented.

A ‘pseudo-democratic structure’

The pilot project in canton Zurich has had a lukewarm reception. The newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung has described the first two assemblies as a “pseudo-democratic structure” with little democratic impact.

During these first two assemblies, participants discussed what climate protection measures should look like on a local level. The Thalwil assembly, however, has a different plan. The participants are discussing items on the local council’s agenda: reducing parking spaces, increasing electric mobility, and finding alternatives to oil-powered heating systems. The citizens are asked to take positions on the proposals, no matter how complicated they are. At the end of the session, they draft a report and submit it to the local council. The politicians, however, are not obliged to address the points raised in the report.

“When I received the invitation letter, I saw it as a chance,”, says Katsia. The 39-year-old software developer normally has no say either in Swiss politics or in her home country of Belarus, where autocrat Alexander Lukashenko has ruled for almost 30 years.

She loves to take part in the assembly. But is her participation making a difference? Katsia is unsure.

“I hope we can bring the municipality and the people closer together,” she says, pointing out that it was important for non-citizens to also have a say. “Our opinions should be heard, because the decisions affect all of us.”

Not all of those taking part in the citizens’ assemblies can make decisions during community meetings, which are open only to Swiss nationals with voting rights.

The 16-year-old student Nikash was the youngest participant at the Thalwil citizens’ assembly. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Take Nikash. The 16-year-old high school student is too young to vote but is allowed to have a say in the assembly. He takes this opportunity seriously.

“This is about our future,” he says. “People of different ages can express their opinions, and that’s why I’m here.” He’s learning a lot about how politics work in the country, a subject that’s rarely taken up at school. “Almost never, actually,” says Nikash.

A worthwhile effort?

The participants sit in small groups at tables where they refine their arguments on individual agenda items. In this informal environment, discussions are open, and no one is afraid to speak up. But one question seems to be on everyone’s mind: “What’s the point of all this?”

Moderator Thomas Ghelfi has an answer.

“You are the people,” he says. “You see what they [politicians] don’t see. You know it all.” It’s the participants’ job to raise public awareness about issues on the table, Ghelfi adds, and the local council cannot simply ignore a well-researched report.

“Everyone wonders what will happen to the report in the end,” he admits. It’s “the killer question” that determines whether participants are committed to the cause.

Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Finding the assembly worthwhile is also important as the participants must sacrifice four full weekends of their time for these meetings. Participation, however, is not compulsory and not everyone chooses to do it. Of the 3,000 Thalwil residents who were contacted, only 200 responded.

Hannah accepted the invitation because she liked the format. The 35-year-old primary school teacher only learns about political issues on television or when she votes.

“I vote by ticking either ‘yes’ or ‘no’, which is the basis of democracy,” she says. “At the assemblies, I can listen to ‘established views’ and form my own opinion.”

Hannah, a 35-year-old primary school teacher, took part in the Thalwil citizens’ assembly. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

But debating alone is not enough. Hannah wants the issues in the report to come alive in the end. “The report will not change politics, though,” she says. “I expect the local government officials to read it and maybe come up with some new ideas.”

Alan, a 56-year-old entrepreneur, is here for political reasons. He wants to help the community tackle climate change. Alan is from South Africa and has lived in Thalwil for seven years.

“This is only the beginning,” he says of citizens’ assemblies, which he believes have great responsibility but need more power to make a difference.

He also wishes for more long-term involvement of participants: “It would be good if we were invited again in a year’s time, so we can see whether the municipality has implemented our sustainability plan the way we wanted.”  

The 56-year-old businessman Alan took part in the citizens’ assembly as he’s interested in climate policy issues. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Participants receive a financial compensation of CHF150 ($152) per day for taking part. While this cannot compare with Swiss salary levels, it is still a welcome contribution, especially for people with limited financial means.

Hannah and Alan are both convinced that their participation is worthwhile. The assembly acts as an antidote to the divisiveness they believe social media creates. Some of the items on the agenda may be controversial, but nobody seems to deny that global warming is man-made.

The poitical analyst Andri Heimann is the project leader of the citizens’ assembly. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Giving people a voice

In this forum populist slogans that have become commonplace during political debates are absent, even though both sides of the political spectrum are represented.

“We get people here with strong political views,” says Andri Heiman of the Centre for Democracy in Aarau and manager of the pilot project. “But those who deny climate change or who are not interested in the issue are probably less well represented here than they are in the general public.”

“The citizens’ assemblies have a different understanding of democracy,” Heimann adds. “Instead of playing political power games between parties or fighting for narrow majorities, people look for common ground and focus on broad-based solutions.”

For this reason, citizens’ assemblies have gained in popularity in representative democracies across the globe. Heimann thinks that these assemblies add value to Swiss democracy.

“Citizens’ assemblies enable the people to participate in the political process from an early stage,” he explains. “It gives them the chance to form their own opinions and find out more about important issues before they cast their ballot at a popular vote.”

Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

In Thalwil, the lottery is giving a voice to people who would otherwise be unable to participate in political life. Whether their voices will ultimately have an impact remains to be seen – not only because it is unclear whether the content of their report will be taken seriously, but also because a group of older male participants are dominating the discussion in the auditorium. Those who do not speak German fluently rarely speak up, especially as the man who quipped that he was “not an expert” is doing all the talking.

Adapted from German by Billi Bierling/gw