How to implement successful people’s initiatives
After the people vote in favour of an initiative, parliament gets to work. It’s their job to figure out how they can make new decisions compatible with existing laws.
It’s not always easy to implement a decision taken by the people. Popular initiatives in Switzerland are often launched as ‘elaborate drafts’ – a complete text. When a majority of the people vote in favour of an initiative, this text is added exactly as it is proposed, directly into the Constitution. Neither parliament nor the government may alter this text.
When initiatives are unclear or contradict the Constitution, parliament has to create additional laws in order to best reflect the people’s will. Law scientist Nagihan Musliu is working on a manual to help this process of implementation along.
In our series, ‘Inside the Democracy Labs’, researchers answer all kinds of questions about democracy.
More
Heard the one about the Swiss company installing laugh detectors?
More
Switzerland fined for denying asylum for gay Iranian
More
Why cars still reign supreme in ‘rail-nation’ Switzerland
More
Voters could scupper Swiss motorway extension plans
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
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.