Cluster: Democracy

Political researchers reach out to broad audience

This content was published on Jan 16, 2017 A flurry of more than 20 articles marked the inauguration of the website timed to coincide with the run up to the 2015 parliamentary elections. More than 15 months later, Georg Lutz, professor of political science at Lausanne University, looks back at more than 170 publications with a sense of achievement and satisfaction. “We succeeded…

Opinion

Democracy

The Future of democracy: Nice talk and ugly games

This content was published on Jan 12, 2017 However, these are smaller dams in a much, much larger river. Here is a fact you rarely hear: Never before in history have so many individual people had a say in popular votes as they did last year, in 2016. According to the think-tank Freedom HouseExternal link last year 40% of the global population lived in “free”…

Democracy

Poll finds sufficient backing for tax reform

This content was published on Jan 6, 2017 A major reform of Switzerland’s corporate tax system stands a good chance of winning approval by voters next month.

Democracy

When local voters say: ‘Not in my own backyard’

This content was published on Jan 3, 2017 Two examples from the past year may help illustrate the dilemma. In November, four mountain villages threw out a plan for a major park in the southeast of the country. Five months earlier – and further north – voters in two cantons rejected a CHF10 million ($9.8 million) credit, disappointing supporters in a third canton,…

Democracy

Burka ban, paternity leave and pesticides

This content was published on Dec 30, 2016 The public appeal of people’s initiatives appears to be stagnating. For the second year in a row, only six new proposals were launched.

Democracy

Making it easier for young foreigners to become Swiss

This content was published on Dec 29, 2016 Should grandchildren of immigrants have privileged access to a Swiss passport? Voters decide on February 12.

Democracy

Right on the rise, rural urban divide deepens

This content was published on Dec 28, 2016 It is a phenomenon that has occurred in Switzerland before, agree political scientists Daniel Bochsler of the University of Zurich and Lukas Golder of the research and polling institute GfS Bern. The trend continues at local or regional levels in the wake of nationwide parliamentary elections. They did not result in a major upset, but…

Democracy

The ten flops of democracy in 2016

This content was published on Dec 26, 2016 It was arguably the most turbulent year for democracies since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Claude Longchamp lists the biggest flops.

Democracy

The power of the people

This content was published on Dec 24, 2016 (SRF, swissinfo.ch)

“People power“ – a delicate balancing act

This content was published on Dec 24, 2016 Where does that leave Switzerland, which is often praised as a leading light in terms of democracy? This is a question that Karin Bauer from Swiss public television SRF tries to answer in her film ‘The Power of the People’, which you can now watch in English on swissinfo.ch. What is more important in Switzerland?…

Cluster: Democracy

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