More Swiss Political Oddities
In Switzerland, voters are in permanent opposition to parliament. But there are other oddities as well. German and French enforced in the middle of a Swiss town. There are states where voting is done at a general gathering of the population. And you might get fined twice for the same car accident.
I pick up the thread where I cut it off in my last article Six Political Oddities of Switzerland Most People Don’t Know to explain a major oddity in Swiss politics.
As all major political parties are part of government, no parliamentary opposition exists. But perversely, the voters are in permanent opposition to parliament. And these are the processes by which they may make use of their political rights:
If parliament passes a law, organisations, parties, or individuals opposed to that law have 100 days time to collect 50,000 signatures of voters and to deposit them with the Chancellery Bundeskanzleramt. The law then has to be put to a vote and is meanwhile put on hold. If the voters decide not to accept it, the law is declared void.
Changes to the constitution and treaties to become part of international organisations such as the EU, NATO, or UN must be brought to the vote. They face an additional hurdle: Not only must a majority of voters in the whole country accept it but also the majorities of voters in a majority of states.
By collecting signatures, voters are also able to start a complete revision on the constitution, start the partial change of the constitution, or to give in new laws they think are necessary. It is therefore no surprise that Swiss nationals get to vote on something or other every three months.
Did you ever walk for miles just to get in on a vote? And then do it out in the open by raising your hand? This form of voting is still in use in smaller states in Switzerland. In Appenzell (state number 2 on the map I put up in my first article), women’s vote was only institutionalized in 1974 by decree of the Swiss High Court. Not that the male population really doubted the ability of women to vote, but the voting was done with the sabre, and nobody including women could imagine women holding up pans. Traditionally, the voters walk to these gatherings. Depending on where you live, this might take up to three hours, one way.
Do you think that’s backward? Maybe it is, but it has its advantages as well. Two years ago, Glarus’ government (state number 
decided to merge towns and villages to cut down local councils and save costs. The goal was to reduce 26 local councils to 13. After presentation by the government, the rostrum was given to voters who wanted to speak. One of the first was a student of 19 who just told them: ‘If you want to do it, do it right. In a few years we will decide to merge even more villages to save costs. This state is constituted by four historical counties. Let’s merge all villages within a county into one; one county, one council. I demand a vote.’
By demanding a vote, this proposal had to be put to the vote alongside the government’s proposal. As you might guess, Glarus is now on its way to have only four towns. I don’ think that backwards at all. And you really see democracy at work at these gatherings called Landsgemeinde.
As states in Switzerland are vastly more independent of federal government than elsewhere, this may lead to very funny situations. Smoking or not, is at this time a state affair until federal parliament has passed a law. Right now it seems parliament will rather not pass any such law, as national and state assembly agree to disagree.
If you come to the town of Basel (state number 5 on the map) be careful where you smoke. The town has three railway stations, a Swiss, French, and a German one. While smoking is generally permitted in Basel, it is prohibited in the French and German stations as they come under the jurisdiction of France and Germany respectively. Even though you are allowed to walk into and through these stations without a passport, you would be fined by police of either country for smoking on their premises.
I once had an accident with my car demolishing the demarcation stone between two states. It had been snowing and I started into a glide coming round a bend slithering into the far side of the stone. I was then fined by one state for going too fast during difficult road conditions and thereby losing control of my car. I was fined by the other state for having no control over my car and causing an accident. I never was invoiced for the stone, though.
Life in Switzerland can be very complicated.
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