Switzerland gives its citizens the chance to play a direct part in political decision-making. Although direct democracy is not unique to Switzerland, it is probably more highly developed here than in any other country.
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I studied filmmaking and animation at Zurich University of the Arts and began working as a video journalist at SWI swissinfo.ch in 2004. Since then I have specialised in creating different styles of animation for our visual products.
Swiss citizens can either propose legislation of their own, or work to defeat legislation already approved by parliament.
However, democracy only works if people understand the rules and play along. Many democracies suffer from poor participation in the voting process, due to poor civic education. There’s room for improvement in Switzerland too. (Michele Andina, swissinfo.ch)
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
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What’s a people’s or citizens’ initiative?
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Swiss citizens can either propose legislation of their own, or work to defeat legislation already approved by parliament.
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A referendum is a nationwide vote called to challenge a piece of legislation already approved by parliament. If a group opposed to the new law manages to collect at least 50,000 signatures within 100 days of the official publication of the proposed legislation, it is again put to a nationwide vote. Such a vote is…
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.