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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A documentary and animation filmmaker from Bern, Michele studied film at Zurich University of the Arts. He's been a swissinfo.ch video journalist since 2004 and has a special interest in developing new video formats for mobile viewing, mixing animation and documentary styles.
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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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…
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.