Transcript The potentials of Direct Democracy

The political system
of Switzerland:
”Built and driven by the society and
the sub-national societies”
7 hypothesis as a contribution to the
Training program for Diplomats from Iraq
By Andreas Gross (Switzerland)
(Political Scientist, MP, Leader of the Socialdemocrats in the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasburg)
[email protected] www.andigross.ch
SFDFA/ Multidimensional Diplomacy
Bern, November 2nd 2009
1. The Swiss Federal State is
pretty young (*1848) but grounded on a common
existence of 550 years
The old Confederation (1291-1848)
was very loose and very diverse in
many ways: Only few were very
weak democracies and many much
more oligarchic and aristocratic !
2. Democracy and freedom
were results from the
French Revolution and the
Napoleonian invasion.
From 1798 until 1848 a sclerotic
oligarchic association of old states
became the only democratic State in
Europe.
New competing elites could only achieve
this with the support of the citizens and
after a short, “civil civil war”in a European
window of opportunity.
3. The Swiss Federal and
democratic state was 1848
only possible, because
other people in Europe tried
also to free themselves from
feudal powers.
The 1848 “Peoples Spring” were
economically and politically - “we want
to be our own masters of our life” reasonable.
4. The way it was achieved and
it’s societal diversity
marked the political design
of the new Swiss Federation
Strong Decentralization and Sharing of
Powers:
Bicameral Parliament as the U.S.A.
• Collegial Federal Government
(No strong President)
• Double majorities for Constitutional Powers
•
5. Power sharing - vertical and
horizontal - helps you to
integrate a diverse society
and produces stability by
high legitimacy.
From 1848 - 1870 the new liberal elites happen
to be very elitist; so the peoples starting in the
Cantons and ending on Federal level asked for
real participatory rights and transformed a
primarily representative, indirect democracy in
a direct democracy.
They enforced an even better power sharing !
6. In Switzerland nobody has
so much power that he has
the ambivalent privilege, not
to have to learn.
When the democratic power is really
shared with the people, political progress
and social change have to be understood
as collective learning processes. Every
citizen has the right to propose where he
or she thing progress and change are
necessary !
7. The difficulties of the Swiss
system today has two main
components:
As a consequence of the unique way how
it survived the three big wars from 18701945 and it’s self centric world view during
the Cold War Switzerland faces difficulties
in it’s relations to Europe and the World.
Inside the infrastructure of it’s democracy
has to be modernised in order to remake
it’s direct democracy serve the people
best.