My Summary of this post (mostly paraphrased quotes):
There are 3 types of referendums in Swizerland:
Obligatory referenda: Any change in constitution, adjustment of taxes or joining any international organization must be approved by a majority of all people and a majority within each canton.
Legislative referenda: Any law enacted by the parliament may be challenged and rejected in a referendum.
“popular initiatives”: Anyone can propose a referendum on any topic. If they manage to collect hundred thousand signatures in a year and a half the referendum is organized and the initiative may eventually get enacted. Approved popular initiative get written into the constitution.
All of these referenda exist not only on the federal, but also on the cantonal and the municipal level. All of them are binding and neither of them needs a quorum.
Due to their large number, individual referenda are not organized separately. Instead, they are voted on in batches, typically four times a year.
The canton publishes a handbook for each ballot, which explains, in quite a lot of detail, including graphs, maps and tables, what each referendum is about. And contains positions opinions from several governmental bodies and minority positions in those bodies. If even the election guide is not enough, you can have a look at the websites advocating for the yes and no vote, respectively.
the voters aren’t exposed to a simple, black and white choice. Instead, they are drawn into a complex network of different preferences: Your party is in favor, but the deputies of your municipality are against. You are a member of the automobile club and the club is in favor. But your neighbors are against. Voting necessarily means understanding that things are never clear-cut.
Switzerland has no constitutional court. The right to interpret the constitution is granted only to the people. They may do so by running a referendum that makes the wording of the constitution more clear.
The government or parliament can create counter-proposal to each initiative, The counter-proposal is typically a compromise. If the initiative asks for 100, the counter-proposal offers 50. Voters can then choose between rejecting the initiative altogether, accepting it, or accepting the counter-proposal.
The efficiency of the system of counter-proposals is witnessed not only by them being accepted on quite regular basis, but also by the fact that 73 federal popular initiatives were, in the course of history, withdrawn by their initiators in favor of the government counter-proposals.
Each initiative goes through the following process: The Federal Council will first check the referendum and translate it into all official languages. Then, there’s a year and a half to collect 100,000 signatures. The signature sheets are then handed over to the Federal Council. The government has a year and a half to discuss the proposal. If it decides to file a counter-proposal, this period is extended by another year and a half. Consultations with experts and all the stakeholders are held within this time. The government prepares a detailed report and passes it to the parliament. Parliament has another year and a half to discuss it. In the case of a counter-proposal, the period can be prolonged to three and a half years. Finally, the government sets a date for the referendum, which must happen within the next ten months. The whole initiative, from the draft proposal to the vote, can therefore take up to nine years. In practice, this period usually ranges from two to six years. This sluggishness is a feature, not a bug. The long duration of the process, which spans across election periods, prevents the referendum from being used for tactical purposes, and provides ample time for in-depth public debate.
My Summary of this post (mostly paraphrased quotes):
There are 3 types of referendums in Swizerland:
Obligatory referenda: Any change in constitution, adjustment of taxes or joining any international organization must be approved by a majority of all people and a majority within each canton.
Legislative referenda: Any law enacted by the parliament may be challenged and rejected in a referendum.
“popular initiatives”: Anyone can propose a referendum on any topic. If they manage to collect hundred thousand signatures in a year and a half the referendum is organized and the initiative may eventually get enacted. Approved popular initiative get written into the constitution.
All of these referenda exist not only on the federal, but also on the cantonal and the municipal level. All of them are binding and neither of them needs a quorum.
Due to their large number, individual referenda are not organized separately. Instead, they are voted on in batches, typically four times a year.
The canton publishes a handbook for each ballot, which explains, in quite a lot of detail, including graphs, maps and tables, what each referendum is about. And contains positions opinions from several governmental bodies and minority positions in those bodies. If even the election guide is not enough, you can have a look at the websites advocating for the yes and no vote, respectively.
the voters aren’t exposed to a simple, black and white choice. Instead, they are drawn into a complex network of different preferences: Your party is in favor, but the deputies of your municipality are against. You are a member of the automobile club and the club is in favor. But your neighbors are against. Voting necessarily means understanding that things are never clear-cut.
Switzerland has no constitutional court. The right to interpret the constitution is granted only to the people. They may do so by running a referendum that makes the wording of the constitution more clear.
The government or parliament can create counter-proposal to each initiative, The counter-proposal is typically a compromise. If the initiative asks for 100, the counter-proposal offers 50. Voters can then choose between rejecting the initiative altogether, accepting it, or accepting the counter-proposal.
The efficiency of the system of counter-proposals is witnessed not only by them being accepted on quite regular basis, but also by the fact that 73 federal popular initiatives were, in the course of history, withdrawn by their initiators in favor of the government counter-proposals.
Each initiative goes through the following process: The Federal Council will first check the referendum and translate it into all official languages. Then, there’s a year and a half to collect 100,000 signatures. The signature sheets are then handed over to the Federal Council. The government has a year and a half to discuss the proposal. If it decides to file a counter-proposal, this period is extended by another year and a half. Consultations with experts and all the stakeholders are held within this time. The government prepares a detailed report and passes it to the parliament. Parliament has another year and a half to discuss it. In the case of a counter-proposal, the period can be prolonged to three and a half years. Finally, the government sets a date for the referendum, which must happen within the next ten months.
The whole initiative, from the draft proposal to the vote, can therefore take up to nine years. In practice, this period usually ranges from two to six years. This sluggishness is a feature, not a bug. The long duration of the process, which spans across election periods, prevents the referendum from being used for tactical purposes, and provides ample time for in-depth public debate.