One of the most important points is that most politicians in Switzerland have a real job apart from his/hers political duty. There is a compensation for working as a politician but it is not very well paid for. In Switzerland politics is considered a vocation/a service to the community.

@alizanster

3 жыл бұрын

that's great. I wish it was the same way in my country!

@monster2slayer

2 жыл бұрын

140k yearly for three months of work in parliament seems mighty fine to me

@diegoyuiop

2 жыл бұрын

@@monster2slayer and the members of the executive earn 454 000 CHF a year

@vcom2327

2 жыл бұрын

Unlike the USA, where politicians chose public life for the lucrative compensation and bribes from lobbyists. Leaving them willing to do anything, ethical or not, to hold onto their jobs.

@radicalnomad1

2 жыл бұрын

As it should be! I want to move to Switzerland

History lesson: In 1848 when Switzerland was founded, the Swiss took the USA as a role model. That's why we have similarities like decentralization or the two-chamber system. The difference is that Switzerland discovered many flaws and further developed and adapted the system, while the USA stood still. This is what the US could have been. A truely representative Democracy and not a corupt two-party-dictarship.

@michelequici3956

3 жыл бұрын

Exactly. A two party dictatorship where the same families/friends alternate to power. Problem is that people don't realize it.

@oof5020

2 жыл бұрын

The difference is that the Swiss allow their people to change the constitution.

@diamondgamerr1278

Жыл бұрын

I agree! I'm gonna try and write a book on this stuff, honestly the US democracy is flawed in ways beyond Switzerland's, its political parties are 2 large ones and smaller ones that never win elections, while due to the flaws of the system the congress and house are corrupted due to corperations. And due to the large scale party divison issues take years to decades to get solved, like gun violence would barely be a thing by now if we could just stop bickering and find a compromise or something, honestly the US system is flawed beyond belif. On top of this the US system also has the electoral colledge that has stolen the election several times which was not the popular vote. The US system is flawed beyond belief and I fully agree.

@Dubbudha

Жыл бұрын

@@diamondgamerr1278 Do that. It certainly would be a great book! Although I think it is very difficult. The swiss system is slowly but constantly changing and adapting as a result of new political, economic and social challenges. As those challenges are different in the US and Switzerland, the system would look completely different in a few decades.

@RalfAnodin

Жыл бұрын

@@oof5020 Most US States (perhaps half of them) allow citizens to change their constitution just like Switzerland, although it requires often more signatures. But some states do it a lot, like Oregon or Colorado. Only huge difference is that the US citizens cannot change the Federal constitution or control the Federal government and over years it has grown completely obese and unchecked.

Every Swiss: "Our time to shine has come"👁️👄👁️

@mautida9998

3 жыл бұрын

Yes so proud to be swiss 😁

As a Swiss citizen having lived in Kenya and now the USA, I find that the term "democracy" means different things in different countries. When I lived in Kenya it had a "1-Party" democracy, this in a main part was to counter the tribalism that was rampant in politics. As a Kenyan you were expected to vote for anyone from your tribe regardless of which party they belonged to or what they stood for. Now anyone could run for an elected position as long as they agreed to become a member of the "Party". Was it bad? No and yes, no in that it kept the country stable, you did not have any fighting between parties, but it fostered corruption. When the IMF and the US forced Kenya to switch to a multi-party system, there was a lot of violence and many people died or got displaced. But Kenya has remained stable and prosperous as a result of being a "1-Party" nation at the beginning. While here in the US, it often does not feel like a true democracy to me, elections seem to be a pretty worthless effort resulting in a race to see who can spend more money. There are dozens of roadblocks to ensure that a person's vote barely counts. From Gerrymandering (defining voting areas by demographics, which get changed every 10 years or so to suite the party in power), all the way to the electoral college who has the power throw out the popular vote if they so decided. The last several Republican Presidents lost the popular vote by a decent margin, but won states and voting districts. Then there is the 2 party system that has become just like the tribalism of the very early days of Kenyan politics. In the US you are either a Republican (conservative) or a Democrat (liberal) and people vote according to the party they belong to regardless of what that party's current agenda is. Most people have no idea what either party really stands for. The dividing line seems to be about the right for a woman chose an abortion, and not much more. It feels like there is ZERO consensus in US politics. As soon as a new party gets elected, they try and undo what the previous party put into place. Don't get me wrong though, the US is still a great country, but one gets the feeling that the trend is decline while from what I am following about Kenya the trend is on the up. Switzerland on the other hand still feels the same now as it was 40 years ago. VisualPolitik, it would be interesting to see some episodes where you compare a couple of the different "democratic" political systems like Switzerland, Israel, USA, UK, and maybe Kenya, Uganda, or Rwanda.

@tibsyy895

3 жыл бұрын

Dude! Switzerland is the only true democracy in the world! The rest is just a facade, a circus to entertain the people while corrupt individuals and big corporations make the big buck! The rest is irrelevant for them!

@Kreismaker

3 жыл бұрын

@@tibsyy895 As long as we allow 2 lobbists to have access to parlament for each representative we do not have a true democracy. Why do those ppl have direct acces and influence to our parlament and the remaining 8.6 million of us dont have that access? Is that true democracy? It is nearer then others yes but not perfect in any sense, but we are working on it together and that is the biggest diffrence to other countries.

@shivuprasad4333

3 жыл бұрын

@@tibsyy895 yes I agree

@juzloopz24

3 жыл бұрын

@@Kreismaker "lobbying" lmao. Lobbying is just legal corruption and bribery

@patkav

3 жыл бұрын

I approve all you are mentioning about US, no doubt. I was Job transferred in The Midwest for 16 years. Now am glad to be back. Yes, there are a lot of pluses on the USA. But 3 party politics is like Don Quijote fighting against the windmills. 🤡 Simultaneously the real governing body in USA is the Corporate Dictatorship.

Nice video! There’s something to add: 1. civic education in school. Like 2-3 hours of it per week (depending on the Canton). This is very important because citizens understand since childhood WHY their country works like it does, what problems it faces, and so on. In other words, a good citizen is an informed citizen. 2. when you vote for a referendum, you receive a brochure at home, explaining you why you should vote yes and why you should vote no, and the opinion of the government (this brochure is approved both by the government and the groups that promoted the referendum). So again, your vote is an informed one. Oh, and taxes (if compared to Italy, France or Scandinavia) are ridiculously low. And they just lowered it this year in my Canton (often cities record a profit in their balance, even in 2020, and they have to spend the surplus or give it to nearby cities). What shocked me is that they allow to kill wolves after a certain number of killed sheeps or goats, in order to protect farmers. In Italy this would be unthinkable (kill endangered wildlife and you’ll face jail for A LOT of years). As an Italian living in CH, i just love this country and hope to become a citizen as soon as possible (10 years plus 2 yrs waiting list...).

@nicojenny

3 жыл бұрын

A good citizen is an informed citizen. This point you made is just wonderful! I would even say this applies to every country. ( ich wünsch der no vill Erfolg für din Schwiizer Pass)

@nilsonmandela6852

3 жыл бұрын

I have to say, that i disagree with quite a lot of points you made. while it is true that we get a lot of education about our system, a lot people forget about it right after school and many people dont vote because they dont care. I dont think the vote is very informed for many people. Just look at the last votes we took. We banned the burka. Now its not about if you agree with that or not my point is that it was clearly racist! The vote was started by the SVP (the biggest right-wing party of Switzerland). They said its to protect women’s rights. But if you look at their trak record on this subject you will find gems like opposing womens right to vote in the 20. century. Thats crazy! Another example is from the same voting day is the free trade agreement with Indonesia. It was all about the environment and how bad palm oil is but there was actually a lot more to it. Indonesia got a very bad deal with this free trade agreement and no one talked about that. My point is, that politics here as in many other countries becomes more and more about talking points and more important fear which leads to more radicals on both sides of the political spectrum and a growing number of people that are feed up with politics. It might seem like its all perfect but if dont think our system is as good as it might look. Also, at the beginning of the video they say its one of the least corrupt countries in the world yet a initiative that would have forced Swiss companies like Nestle or Glencore to follow human rights in other countries was denied by the public because these VERY big companies invested a lot of money to not let its come through. Also, Switzerland is home to FIFA soooooo.... And Ueli Maurer who is one of the 7 members of the federal council and part of the SVP actually used a Coronavirus briefing to spread fear about this initiative. I dont want to say Switzerland is bad. I love it here and would not like to live anywhere else but its not as great as it might seem.

@udn9930

3 жыл бұрын

Nilson, I won’t state my political preferences but it’s a fact that SVP lost a lot of referendums they proposed (some were just stupid, like the one on the bank deposits). And this is because of education. Sure, populism is also in Switzerland and there’s no perfect country, still they’ve got antidotes. Biggest problem? Health insurance costs; also: growing bureaucracy, difficulty to remain on the frontier of technology. And beef meat is just insanely expensive (still, if you bring water to cattle with helicopters, what do you expect...).

@adamwnt

3 жыл бұрын

I see trumpards and brexitards would have a lot to learn from Switzerland

@miliba

3 жыл бұрын

Funny enough it is the soft city people who are against shooting wolves while rural people support it.

Politicians that work together for the good of the people and earn their wages. Wow

@benjaminbronnimann3966

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah and most of those politicians only do it part-time and also work a normal job

@thastayapongsak4422

2 жыл бұрын

@@benjaminbronnimann3966 That sounds like what election is in communist state. You are a part time parliamentarian.

@goodgoyim9459

2 жыл бұрын

you arent going to point out its a majority white and christian country with strict national borders?

@Jordan-tx6kv

Жыл бұрын

@@goodgoyim9459 aren't their boarders pretty loose, i dint even get my passport checked the last two times i went

@mclilzenthepoet2331

Жыл бұрын

@@goodgoyim9459 yah it happens to be in the middle of Europe

As a naturalized Swiss I can confess, it ain’t easy to become a Swiss national! You need to live there for 10 years (each year counts as 2 if you are under 18); learn a Swiss language to a proficient level; assimilate and take the exam. You may get a bit fast tracked If you are a man under 18 during application (so you can do the mandatory Swiss army service). But once you get it, you are a very lucky person

@jennifer-oc6io

3 жыл бұрын

Its the same in finland n in most parts of Western Europe

@badluck5647

3 жыл бұрын

In Biden's America, the border is open and citizenship is given to people who enter illegally. As you can imagine, issues arise.

@jessicatriplev9802

3 жыл бұрын

@@badluck5647 BS. Citizenship cannot be given to anyone who is not legally present. Stop lying fash!

@selkissun6270

3 жыл бұрын

@@jessicatriplev9802 it’s happened before it can happen again.

@badluck5647

3 жыл бұрын

@@jessicatriplev9802 Not yet. Democrats are trying give "a pathway to citizenship" to all illegal immigrants in hopes that the new voters will repay them with votes for Democrats. There aren't enough socialist in America, so Biden is trying to import them.

I'm a British born Swiss citizen and have been following your channel for years. Love this video. You explained everything very well if not perfectly. 👍🏻 Also liked the potential challenges at the end. Always interested to hear what other people think of 🇨🇭. I'm very proud our system of government and hope it lasts for ever. 😊 Looking forward to your next video on a Swiss subject 😁

@usmanahmad9186

3 жыл бұрын

7 president at a time Not a good system

@Slithermotion

3 жыл бұрын

@@usmanahmad9186 There is only 1 president which is elected out of the 7 member federal council. And why is that a bad thing, it has worked for almost 200 years.

@taj-sid

3 жыл бұрын

@@usmanahmad9186 Considering the damage certian countires single President and/or Prime Minister can do. 7 is a great system. It makes it very costly for 3rd parties to bribe, sorry I mean donate.This system also seems to force its citizen to be infomed of the current issues so, representitves won't be able to get away with funny stuff very easily.

@kaalesrex2933

3 жыл бұрын

@@taj-sid since our "presidents" get a very nice stipend pretty much forever after having been in the federal council .. yes bribes would have to be on a noticable scale ... it's a very robust system.. but it makes it slow ... still slow and steady wins the race at least sometimes

@christheswiss390

2 жыл бұрын

@@usmanahmad9186 Wrong. NO president. NO concentration of power. NO ability to declare a war on another country (like most presidents in the world have). Only a single person representing the country at official visits - and changing every year within the counsel of 7.

Swede here. I wish we could be a little more like the Swiss. Direct democracy and referendums on every important issue would most definitely ensure that stability, unification and peace is upheld while politicians work to serve the people rather than the opposite. Sadly, we've gone a different route.

@badralsharnuud3433

3 жыл бұрын

But swedes are way more innovative country with 31 billionaires of obly 5m ppl .Way better than us mongolians

@johnnycanuck250

3 жыл бұрын

that style of direct democracy only lead to women's suffrage in 1971

@cowboybeboop9420

3 жыл бұрын

Honestly I wish you had such a system. There are all sorts of radical things that we the rest of Europe hear about your country. If you had the Swiss system maybe they wouldn`t be spreading so quickly. I imagine not all of your country is insane.

@badralsharnuud3433

3 жыл бұрын

@Rose Algren yea feminism is not about equality its idealogy against male dominance. Feminists dont want men to succeed men to educated and men to be privilaged.

actually it is much less complicated in practice than it seems. And it works.

@tobiasimobersteg

3 жыл бұрын

I totally agree.

@harriswelsh1309

3 жыл бұрын

@peter, thats beautiful..

This video really makes me happy that i was born in switzerland. And I’m definitely more grateful for this great system we have!!

Switzerland has an almost perfect political system

@lordpetyrbaelish6126

3 жыл бұрын

I know... It's like a dream for most of the world.

@evankurniawan1311

3 жыл бұрын

If you have near homogenous population, things tend to work out. Try this in country with lots of different religion, race, skin color, and you get chaos

@grillo01234

3 жыл бұрын

@@evankurniawan1311 Switzerland consists of a German, a French and an Italian part, hosts an incredibly high percentage of foreigners and is split between catholics and protestants as well as a lot of people following Judaism and Islam. Switzerland is far from homogeneous.

@DramaQueenMalena

3 жыл бұрын

@@evankurniawan1311 I don't know where you got the idea of "homogeneous country." I suppose you mean we have no people of color or foreigners. But 65% of the residents of Switzerland are either first or second generation immigrants from at least one parent. I work in a city with 50,000 people speaking more than 90 languages. And as a real Swiss (daughter of immigrants) I can only say that opportunities are almost equal and as public school is much better than private school and college is free we are all integrated. So yes, maybe we are "homogeneous".

@quisqueyanguy120

3 жыл бұрын

@@evankurniawan1311 Switzerland is not homogeneous at all, they have 4 official languages in a nation with 9 million people.

Swiss person here. One important "oversee" here is that we don't have elections every 3 months, but votes. We make a big difference between elections and votations. That is why we sometimes say that other countries don't vote, they just elect. Also the composition of the federal council is not always 4 swiss-germans, 2 swiss-frenc, and one swiss-Italian, but more like 4 swiss-germans, and 3 swiss-"latin", most commonly 3 swiss-French, with sometimes 2 swiss-French and one Swiss-italian. We also try to always have at least 3 women in the council.

@plinyelder8156

3 жыл бұрын

Bad logic. In other countries they vote to elect. Electing doesn’t happen out of thin air or arbitrary decision.

@KS-yn5zw

3 жыл бұрын

@@plinyelder8156 slave mentality

Earlier this morning I got into a rabbithole and read a 90 page pdf on the swiss social security programs, and I can safely say that this is much more entertaining. Keep up the good work!

Grate Love & respect for Swizz🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭 ❤❤❤ from the war zone in Tigray 🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭

@nicolaburger5232

3 жыл бұрын

Much love and strengh back to you from switzerland😊❤☀️

@Libikuroi

3 жыл бұрын

If this system existed in Ethiopia do you think the war could have been avoided? Feel like so much could have been solved with this sort of system. Perfect for multi-ethnical/tribal societies. Much Love from another African brother. Stay safe!

@Slithermotion

3 жыл бұрын

@@Libikuroi As a swiss I can tell you, we don't know what works for other people or even nations. It works for us, it has worked for almost 200 years while the rest of europe was in war for imperial, ideological or ethnic reasons. I think we swiss were just lucky that some smart people in 1848 had envisioned tried something new in europe and ever since the system has been adapting and evolving. There are sometimes downsides like our late implemantation of the womens suffrage. But I guess you can only appreciate the good if you accept that nothing is perfect. That doesn't mean there shouldn't be an effort to improve things but it will take time. I hope Ethiopia will stabilize, the most important thing any african country needs at the moment are people with a clear vision how their country should look in the future.

Very good video! One oddity that did not come up: the parliament only seats 4 months a year, politicians usually have a normal day job, besides being politicians, which is not the case everywhere.

Having that many different political groups is key to prevent extreme groups. I would argue that in switzerland the amount of radical rightwingers or radical leftwingers is very small compared to as example the USA, which only has two big political groups.

@eggselent9814

2 жыл бұрын

The thing is, we certainly have many of them, but not nearly as many as the USA, but that is a.) due to Us media not having to be objective and B.) because the big left-and right parties (Greens and SP on the Left as well as the SVP on the right) generally don’t allow for more extreme parties to form

@AppleBottomJ

Жыл бұрын

and that's why USA travel books tell you to not bring up politics.. since we will label you as a left or right-winged person. Then we will continue to judge, harass, or praise you. You can't be 50/50 here. So, Switzerland sounds nice.

@Gigachad-mc5qz

Жыл бұрын

Being radical isnt bad. In fact left wing extremists are pretty based. They want a free world. Right wing extremists just want hitler back

We need this system in Canada. Our system is really corrupt.

Greets from switzerland 😊☀️

Never saw someone doing a swiss politics explained video that good, well done!

Switzerland is exactly great because it's so hard to pass laws. It's great because it requires consensus. That many ways laws can be blocked, and how hard it is to consolidate power, is by design. The federal laws should always, always be the minimum, the absolute consensus of the overwhelming majority to the point of common sense. It is a plague and a curse of modern democracies that any law can be passed with a simple majority, and a remainder of despotism that the executive branch has so much power.

@ben5056

3 жыл бұрын

Kind of a recipe for stagnation no?

@Soff1859

3 жыл бұрын

@@ben5056 yeah we famously only gave the right to vote to women in 1971... It is very slow. But the outcome is pretty much always one, that almost everyone can live with. Unlike the US, for example, where one party keeps jamming shit down the other sides throats for 4-8 years with a 50.1% majority. And then the other party spends the first year undoing the last administrations "progress". Also it seems to be working really well for a century or more. GDP per capita, median income, live expectancy, human happiness index etc. are all very high.

@DramaQueenMalena

3 жыл бұрын

@@ben5056 Not stagnation. Slow but constant progress.

@DramaQueenMalena

3 жыл бұрын

@@Soff1859 Yes, the right to vote for women was late. But in 1942 we legalized prostitution and homosexuality and made abortions available. The votation was in 1937.

@ben5056

3 жыл бұрын

@@DramaQueenMalena that’s good, makes it safe from individual politicians with dubious ideas

Preventing foreign individuals from voting is a smart scheme. It prevents radical or drastic changes in the political system, ensures that the citizens who've over generations lived and deeply taken part of Swiss culture can make political changes, and prevents destabilization. Every country should do this. Switzerland are in many ways conservative in areas where it matters.

@neodym5809

3 жыл бұрын

How is this special? In most countries only native citizens are allowed to vote (with some exceptions in the EU in local elections)

@johnnycanuck250

3 жыл бұрын

foreigners can vote in Switzerland I'm swiss living abroad and I can vote there, Lived in Canada my entire life, inherited swiss citizenship from my mother. Every few months I receive a voting packet in the mail to vote in swiss referendums and elections. I can vote in Zurich and Thurgau

@JMM33RanMA

3 жыл бұрын

Massachusetts is well governed, prosperous [one of the wealthiest states], and has changed from dominant English Protestant to plurality Irish and Italian Catholic. When I was young, the law mandated reading the Protestant [KJV] bible and saying the Protestant version of the Lord's Prayer daily in the public schools. This was offensive to the majority Catholic and some Jewish students in the classes. Fortunately the SCOTUS ruling removed that. Preserving the past is often NOT a good idea. Domination by one self-centered and elitist group often leads to destabilization.

@RalfAnodin

Жыл бұрын

Also women could not vote at the Federal level until 1971. This tendency that citizens with a lot of power have where they do not want to share the power is in my opinion more problematic than anything else. There are many people that are completely Swiss culturally and cannot vote. That feeds frustration + because they are not represented they are also less defended than citizens, that feeds inequality and threatens the stability of society and the quality of the economy.

@jjj8317

10 ай бұрын

It is quite reasonable. You cna become a citizen, the process will be long, but your involvement in the political citizen is large. You are the citizen with the most direct influence in the state. In my homeland, man have to serve in the military but foreigners can have kids who are not born as citizens and skip the 18 month draft wich i think is outrageous since they can just become citizens at 18 skipping the service. All male citizens should service if they are able to, and permanent residents should also serve if they want to become a citizen.

Love the system & the video

I would like to see more of this here in Canada. Our system is not terrible but certainly it is not as good as this Swiss system. I am amazed that with such a complex system that they can keep taxes so low too! Brilliant! Oh and I love the top 4 parties taking turns in leadership, that is really great too!

@swissarmyknife7670

3 жыл бұрын

We just always vote for lower taxes :p yes we can do that

@andreaszimmermann6200

3 жыл бұрын

But it's very very slow 🐌 some parts of the law is literally stuck in 1980 and even our retirement organisation was last successful reformed in 1996 every other attempt was either killed by a right-left alliance or by popular votes

@user-nf9xc7ww7m

3 жыл бұрын

Quebec and Ontario would scream bloody murder as they would lose power in the senate. Imagine...each province having 2 senators... And French schools in other provinces would be gone. They are propped up by the federal govt. And quebec who can get away with bullying anglophone in quebec while francopjones in the rest of Canada are treated with kid gloves would definitely eradicate any last traces of the English language within its borders.

@charlesmadre5568

3 жыл бұрын

@@user-nf9xc7ww7m The Canadian Senate does not have veto power, it can only delay legislation.

@mikeloughnane5436

Жыл бұрын

The prime minister of Canada is a appointed dictator.

From a Belgian perspective this Swiss system seems pretty straight forward...

I don't understand why this two points is stated as a negative. The citizenship is a quality control that ensures the immigrants actually understand what they do in the demography. Also it is great that the states are more equal despite populations.

@lukeporras1288

7 ай бұрын

Yeah exactly, the two “problems” are just bonuses. Plus it makes sure the people voting are actually invested and hopefully better informed. And the “federal veto” where States get equal votes enhances consensus-building, otherwise 50.1% of the population could just rule over everyone else.

I wish a government like this could be possible in Germany, but I'm pessimistic in that regard. It would be nice if we could at least move a bit in that direction, each small step is be a Win

@Andreas_42

3 жыл бұрын

Best way might be to start at a local (Landkreis/Stadt) or state (Bundesland) level. I'm sure there are at least some states where the state constitution would allow a form of direct participation. For example, in the city of Karlsruhe, it's allowed that the citizens form political bodies for the part of the city they live in (Statviertel). If there are local decisions that effect their Statviertel, they have the right to be heard by the mayor (Oberbürgermeister), give advice and suggest solutions. If that is allowed in Karlsruhe, I would be surprised if it would not be allowed in other cities in Baden-Württemberg.

@efusion1995

3 жыл бұрын

One thing we should start with is actually respecting that states can make different decisions and not call it "Flickenteppich" or whatever.

@darakushitatamashi8837

3 жыл бұрын

@@efusion1995 the one thing I wish would be more equalized between states is the "Lehrplan" at least for some subjects like math and I only mean the "Lehrplan" not the whole education system

@Kreismaker

3 жыл бұрын

Are you nuts? That would mean that the ASF would be in power as well. As if they would go on and work with the other parties together and explain the viewof the goverment to the world as if it is their own view?

@tim7140

3 жыл бұрын

I think the whole 2 chaimbers with the US Senat style chaimber is dogsht.

By far it is the best system of government in the world

Swiss in short: President: hey, i’ll add a policy to increase jail time by 2 seconds Public: *that needs a referendum*

@eggselent9814

9 ай бұрын

And that is a good thing else the politicians get too much power

Spain's Autonomous Communities are nothing like Swiss Cantons nor U.S. States, they are devolved regional entities within a centralised state similar to the Home Nations of the UK (Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) but a bit more interventionist in intra-regional affairs. A big reason why Catalans want independence in the first place.

Interesting topic! Love this highly educated channel!! 👍🏻

@miliba

3 жыл бұрын

Hey messiah!

"In a regular year, like 2021..." That's a bit of a stretch...

I don't quite understand how foreigners not being able participate in political votes is a downside. If you want to vote in a country you must have citizenship of this country, to me that's the most normal thing ever...

Great video 👍

Thank you my Brother for this excellent Documentary :D

Switzerland sounds amazing. I hope to visit someday

So are we basically pointing out as a defect, that you can go there, enjoy their country and their system, even get their citizenship after some time, but that they do not allow you to participate in making laws straight away?

@benjaminbronnimann3966

2 жыл бұрын

You can vote or propose new laws as soon as you have citizenship, which however can take quite some time (up to 10 years)

This system works if significant number of the citizens are highly educated and not greedy. For most country full of uneducated, greedy citizens, direct democracy would be a disaster. Not allowing non-citizen to vote avoids the risk of contamination.

@eggselent9814

2 жыл бұрын

Well i‘d argue Swiss people are very greedy and has waaaaay less college graduates than most other countries similar to Switzerland. But that’s due to the schooling system

That was interesting but how about doing a video on the Swiss military.

Wir wählen auch nur alle 4 Jahre, aber dazwischen gibt es sog. Abstimmungen über ein Sachgeschäft, in der Regel 3-4 Mal im Jahr. Es gilt sich klar zu machen, dass es Wahlen und Abstimmungen gibt.

2:26 this alone shows how great Switzerland is. Some sort of mechanical contraption that is super artistic and well designed, pleasing tot he eye, and animated....sort of thing you expect more often in the future across the world but see so little of in most realities.

Massachusetts is more like Switzerland than I thought. It has almost the same population and land area, and the towns were based on direct democracy in town meetings. The difference is that as the population of the town increases, town meetings become contentious. Apparently we differ from the Swiss by being more politically aggressive and polarized. This results in a town deciding to transition to permanent governing by elected council and periodic town meetings. Eventually this becomes unmanageable and after popular consultation [this resembles the Swiss ideal of no change without majority consent], there is a transition to fully elected city government. The majority [now a plurality] of the population changed from English to Irish, though there is quite a bit of diversity in and near Boston. It is likely that there is more religious and ethnic diversity here than in Switzerland as a whole [perhaps Zurich is similar]. However, Boston is and always has been a dominant capital city. The Commonwealth is more highly urbanized than Switzerland, with the power of non urban areas much diminished. From this video it is easy to see traces of our founders' research into the Swiss and Holy Roman Empire's structures when debating how to structure the government of the US. Strangely, the original post-revolution governments of both the US and my state were more like Switzerland's today, yet our executives have definitely moved more toward elective monarchies. [like the Dutch Republic and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth], with the original one-year tenure having become four. This was a very interesting video.

@Kenionatus

3 жыл бұрын

Most Swiss towns bigger than a village are governed by an elected parliament, but all (I think) still retain the direct democracy that's also present at the Kantonal and national level. Town elections are held at the same time as those as well. Saves administrative cost and you don't need to vote all the time. :)

@JMM33RanMA

3 жыл бұрын

@@Kenionatus My town voted to replace town meeting alone with town meeting with council and supervisors in the 2000's. A few years ago they went for full elected government. But we still have ballot questions about local and state issues. The state referendum a couple of years ago pushed the state to legalize Marijuana, but the legislature tried to make it only for medicine, which angered the people and got a popular backlash.

@stadtwolf42

2 жыл бұрын

It isn‘t strange that our system reflects staates after the revolution, because you were first. Our system then was rather similar to nowadays NATO. We copied the US in 1848 and for the most part we have kept it that way.

@RalfAnodin

Жыл бұрын

Switzerland used to be divisive had kind of a bipartism. Then there was this event were in Ticino in 1890 where one of the members of the government was shot by a partisan of the opposition and the whole thing turned almost into a local civil war. The Federal government forced Ticino to implement proportional representation. Then one year later the popular initiative was adopted at federal level, an a popular initiative was passed to implement proportional representation at the federal level in 1917. That’s the start of consensus based politics. Even though there’s no direct democracy at the federal level in the US, if proportional representation was adopted multipartism and more consensus would become the norm.

Brilliantly explained in a concise way

Congrats finaly the important things in the world👌🏼👌🏼🇨🇭❤️ greetings from oberhofen am thunersee

Problems with the Swiss political system: Large population areas can't force their will on smaller population areas due to the canton system. Non-citizens can't vote. Uh, how are these "problems"? They are only "problems" for globalists and cult-of-personality politicians. They are not problems for normal people. I think our country should model our political system after the Swiss one, it's a good system, and I think it perfectly fits our political and geopolitical situation.

@mikicerise6250

3 жыл бұрын

Regions are not people. Giving more weight to people from rural areas is not quite democratic. It has nothing to do with "globalism" or conspiracies. 🙄

@saturn_in_blue

3 жыл бұрын

@@mikicerise6250 You obviously are too stupid to understand how to form stable democratic systems, you think democracy is just "mob rule". Regions have shared interests and if you didn't protect their interests against larger population regions, city mobs full of idiots like you would just vote to make economic activities in rural areas untenable, collapsing critical rural economic activities such as farming, and creating separatist movements. In developed countries, 3% of the population make 100% of the food, in "mob rule by idiots" democracy like you propose, the interest of the farmer would to totally crushed by ignorant city mobs then EVERYONE WOULD STARVE. But you know, you think grocery stories make food magically appear, don't you?

@mikicerise6250

3 жыл бұрын

@@saturn_in_blue 🤣

As a Swiss citizen i firmly believe that Switzerland must NOT have all power in 1 hand, that people need to respect rules and morality for the society to thrive and that there must be individual freedom and respect of private proprety.

Bosnia 🇧🇦 should be like Switzerland 🇨🇭

@kirtiyadav9123

3 жыл бұрын

You misspelled serbia

@Bengalinationalist

3 жыл бұрын

@@kirtiyadav9123 again? An Indian?!

@Triplehdd

3 жыл бұрын

@@kirtiyadav9123 Kosovo is Albania

@that1niceguy246

3 жыл бұрын

every single country should be like switzerland

@swissarmyknife7670

3 жыл бұрын

@@Triplehdd isnt half of kosovo swiss anyway?

We love the Swiss political system. And we appreciate the European Union. But the two systems are not compatible for evident reasons.

@christheswiss390

2 жыл бұрын

first part: yes. second part: clearly NO, since the EU wants to coerce Switzerland under EU law and therefore defacto eliminate its direct democracy. The EU might be many things, but democratic it is NOT!

@dariob9786

2 жыл бұрын

That's not true. Both, the EU and Switzerland, are based on consensual democratic principles. Perhaps the EU even copied this and some form of (half) direct democracy from Switzerland, because the EU offers a citizen's initiative (expandable of course), too. The EU is more federalist than Switzerland by the way, because the EU is still a confederation by agreements (not by a constitution) and has executive federalist traits with the Council of the EU and the EU Commission (as ministers of each EU member state's government take seat in the Council of the EU, like in the Federal Council/"Bundesrat" in Germany, not to confuse with the Swiss Federal Council, and each member state appoints a commissioner).

@christheswiss390

2 жыл бұрын

@@dariob9786 You say: "that's not true". WHAT excatly is not true?? You write: "Both, the EU and Switzerland, are based on consensual democratic principles." If by "consensual" you mean that G. Soros, tiny napoleon and his crush Uschi must come to a "consensus" in back-room, secret discussion that are not minuted, not officialized and not reported upon in "freedom of information" requests by citizens, then by all means, yes. 😂 🤣 But this has NOTHING to do with a consenual, proper government. And it IS the EU reality. There is NOTHING democratic about the EU, not how it "justifies" its existence, not how it skirted the declined popular votes for a contitution by quickly "calling off" the constitution votes and "replacing" them with a non-democratically and therefore non-legitimized "contract", not by how the stipulations of the contracts are broken and disregared since decades, not by how positions of power are doled out by autocrats in back-room dealings and weelings, not by how convicted criminals are placed into positions of power to further the needs of 2 countries (france and italy) at the expense of ALL other member states, not by how laws are broken by member states with NO recourse whatsoever (Germany obliterating Shengen and Dublin accords in 2015 as it they didn't even exist) 😂, coercing other nations to acquiesce to demands the EU has no right to enforce (like I wrote it is doing to Switzerland openly since three years), etc. The list could go on for hours. But you know this. That's why you are careful to list only those "demcratic proofs" that exist soley on paper and which have absolutely no meaning whatsoever in the anti-democracy that is the EU. But people can read the papers and can understand what they are being told by spin doctors (are you one of them?) and what the EU actually DOES and can see the massive delta between the two. You mention the "EU offers a citizen's initiative (expandable of course)". 😂 That's almost comical, but as a spin doctor, you hold on to any straw you can find. The EU's "citizen's initiative" has ONE primary goal: to ensure NO such initiative can EVER dictate to the autocratic rulers what shall be done (this is VERY contrary to Switzerland, where the people ARE actually the sovereign). That is why, contrary to Switzerland, the EU would not even DREAM of implementing a mandatory referendum: because it would actually give the people POWER to decline laws passed by the autocratic rulers. Imagine THAT! Hell would freeze over sooner that the EU autocrats EVER giving ANYTHING resembling power to its constituents. 😂 🤣

Well done 👍

This is a very interesting system.

Hi VisualPolitik! I really enjoy your channel! Can you please make a video proposing how the political system should work in Cyprus? (according to your opinion)

@VA505

3 жыл бұрын

This video is by itself a proposal of how the political system should work in Cyprus. Direct democracy based on the Swiss model. Now its up to us (Cypriots) to spread the idea among us and try to make it work.

If we did this in US, it would solve many issues.

@NajwaLaylah

3 жыл бұрын

We're not that homogenous in several ways. We're not that well-educated. And, we're not that proud and humble at the same time.

@nickolas7407

3 жыл бұрын

@@NajwaLaylah it would be redundant if you were all homogeneous, the point is everyone gets their say no matter how different they are

@NajwaLaylah

3 жыл бұрын

@@nickolas7407 You do realise that everyone gets their say no matter how homogeneous in any way the group voting is, right? It's not 'redundant' in any useful sense.

@Kenionatus

3 жыл бұрын

@@NajwaLaylah Do you realise that Switzerland has 3 (technically 4) different languages and between traditionally catholic and protestant Kantons?

@NajwaLaylah

3 жыл бұрын

@@Kenionatus Yep.

Swiss here: I would like to say nice video, but sadly the part about direct democracy is presented very confusingly and there is also a crucial mistake regarding popular initiatives. 4:45 When you collect 100 000 signatures you don't propose a bill which must be voted on in parliament. You propose a change to the constitution and if accepted by the population and the cantons, the parliament usual must change or create a law based on the new constitution. That new law can also be challenged by a referendum. Also, worth noting: The Swiss constitution serves another role than the American constitution. Other important point regarding federalism and direct democracy. That mechanism is in place on every of the three levels of the state in one way or the other, it is not only the national level.

nice information but anyone know whats the name of the song that start at 3:38?

I'm moving to Switzerland

@mikicerise6250

3 жыл бұрын

Just don't try to take the bells off their cows. I think a Danish woman's citizenship application was denied for that. 😂

Pleeeeaaase VISUALPOLITIK : Correct the title in "Switzerland: voting every 3 months?" With all your respect, referendums are not elections.

@frankmaeder4358

2 жыл бұрын

no, but in an election, you elect someone, or vote for someONE, in an Abstimmung, you vote for or against someTHING. so the title is still correct

@tobiasimobersteg

2 жыл бұрын

@@frankmaeder4358 Correct. In an election, you vote for someONE. In an Abstimmung ("Referendum" or "Volksinitiative"), you vote for someTHING. So the title still isn't correct.

Im British travelled most of the world, a few countries were impressive because they functioned well and Switzerland would be one of them without a doubt. For people who are normal law-abiding good quality of life, beautiful scenery and interesting cultures within its history.

First comment. Fan of your channel.

I wish I had such systems in my country

Free Tibet, Free Hong Kong , Free Inner Mongolia, Free Xinjiang , free Myanmar and protect Taiwan

One of the best explanations in English

Such a system will be a nightmare for Indian politicians..every single one of em are corrupt 😍💯😂😂

@jascrandom9855

3 жыл бұрын

Tells you how good it would be.

@happyguy2k

3 жыл бұрын

Corruption is everywhere even usa, its just that usa good at hiding them

@OnlyIfYouKnew_

3 жыл бұрын

@@happyguy2k here they don't even hide it 😁 💯

@jascrandom9855

3 жыл бұрын

@@happyguy2k The difference is that you are less likely to need to bribe someone to anything done in the US than in India.

@happyguy2k

3 жыл бұрын

@@jascrandom9855 in usa ther is legal bribery called lobbying which influences legislation... All the same but packaged differently, also campaign donations and people on Congress working for companies that they had oversight over whilst in Congress

Great video! I live in Switzerland and can confirm this is all true. The only thing is I would recommend maybe speaking a little slower in your future videos! 🙂

Me who has been living in a military dictatorship for all of my life this video is depressing

Nice voice.. 👍💯

Am from the Caribbean, Saint Lucia to be exact and would love to see this system implemented, politicians let the power go to their heads and mislead people with promises and claim that little can be done in 5 years and that they need more time to produce, while using funds for personal agendas and keeping the public dependent on them, the people need to realize that they are the power and that their voice is more important than a vote, and that they can have a bigger say in the running's of their country

@justbelit

2 жыл бұрын

It's the same (or arguably) worse in almost all Caricom countries. Mine is known as the most corrupt, it's too embarassing to proudly say 'the island' on here. but our political system has failed and continues to fail miserably

@mamitt13

2 жыл бұрын

@@justbelit would like to hear more about your island

@JK-gu3tl

2 жыл бұрын

I spent part of my childhood in St. Lucia. A place like Castries should be a "free city" allowed to run its own affairs. That would be a start.

@JK-gu3tl

2 жыл бұрын

@@justbelit No shame in being Jamaican.... :D

To be honest this political system simply can't work in the absolute majority of nations in the world, even western nations. Switzerland has a very unique advantage of being small, isolated(due to the alps), extremely well developed and historically neutral to a fault. They simply have no care in the world, which is a luxury very very few countries and people have. With no care in the world you have very few issues that divide society so much that reaching consensus is all but impossible.

@eggselent9814

2 жыл бұрын

there is no consensus in Switzerland however. The difference is, that the country isn’t divided into 2 parties but into at least 5-6, which makes practical alliances necessary

@Owlr4ider

2 жыл бұрын

@@eggselent9814 There are many countries in the world with a multi-party democratic systems... That's not at all what makes Switzerland unique.

@eggselent9814

2 жыл бұрын

@@Owlr4ider It depends on how the multi-party system works.

That was very interesting, thank you. And it seems A Lot closer to the true spirit of democracy. I always just assumed Swiss interests will be guided by big cheese...

@Kenionatus

3 жыл бұрын

If anything, it's big pharma. :) Money does actually play a pretty big role in Swiss politics, due to the constant campaigning, lots of negotiations happening behind closed doors and it being legal to pay a huge salary to politicians for them doing virtually nothing for the company (except vote in their favour, of course).

@diewaarheid9431

3 жыл бұрын

@@Kenionatus Oh... Well, that is a little disappointing. I guess humans are gonna human. Thanks for the clarification!

@tizianschmidlin5411

3 жыл бұрын

Don't let our spirit of truth and democracy misguide you, in the end, it's always about cheese, regardless of the matter 😬

@Dwarfsayingwtf

3 жыл бұрын

To a degree it is. We have a big agricultural lobby

2:02 There are only two cantons which still have the Landsgemeinde

@florianhug9801

3 жыл бұрын

@@turbolover-nh4vf which is illegal

@andreaszimmermann6200

3 жыл бұрын

@@turbolover-nh4vf there are many Labour Laws to protect but not as strict like France. No hire and fire at will. Notice period are a month up to 3 month by law and due to the process the thing you vote for or against are very moderate. And in the end most boss don't care how you voted or even if you voted

@andreaszimmermann6200

3 жыл бұрын

Yes but the most town have a Gemeindeversammlung what is the little sibling of the Landsgemeinde

@royfischer482

3 жыл бұрын

I even think that it is only one Canton that still has the Landsgemeinde, but then there are still hundreds of communes with the same System.

I love to see this Swiss System implemented in Canada.

11:13 it isn’t a parliamentary system as parliamentary systems require that the executive is accountable to the legislature throughout their term, like in Germany and the UK, while in Switzerland (as with South Africa and San Marino) the executive isn’t accountable to Parliament other than at election time once every four years.

My mind's been blown a little haha

The blocking power and federalist veto sounds like a very good thing to me.

There didn't seem to be any attempt to match music thematically here, haha. Make one think more of Santa Monica Beach than Switzerland.

@RoScFan

3 жыл бұрын

That s the worst aspect of this channel and in the 4 or 5 years or so since this channel was launched they NEVER changed that. When it comes to music they are dumbasses. At least the contrast of volume of the music compared to the volume of the rest ofnthe video isny as great as it used to be.

I didn’t learn much from this at all. Please elaborate on structure and voting practices, politaical parties etc

Era isso, exatamente isso, que eu gostaria para o meu país.

Josh is wonderful as host

That is what EU should be, but it is not... ;_;

@christiansteiner5782

3 жыл бұрын

That's why we did not joune

@quatreunhuit

3 жыл бұрын

@@christiansteiner5782 join*

@Andreas_42

3 жыл бұрын

It's a bit of a tragedy, that the Swiss political system would likely be undermined in certain parts if Switzerland would join the EU. The Swiss cabaret artist and muscian Franz Hohler once sung in a satirical song, roughly translated to english: Switzerland will never join the EU, it will wait until the EU get tired by the slow political process and applies to join Switzerland 😉

@janojupiter2364

3 жыл бұрын

Speaking only for myself, but I feel that's the reason we're sceptical of the EU and think it doesn't work as well as it should and could. From an outside view it seems that Brussels wants to improve cohesion of the union by enforcing ever more centralization instead of allowing its members to chose more individual paths and making their own pace. It lacks federalism and (direct) democracy. Maybe one day we'll meet somewhere along the way ;)

@noobkiller1229

3 жыл бұрын

thats kind of how the EU is already (without the direct democracy ofc), but a system which leads to stability, saefty and inclusion in switzerland leads to a toothless, slow and veto-heavy European union, in which all countries have veto power and nothing works. Federalism is sometimes a blessing, and sometimes a curse

Directorial system FTW! 🙂

Kein Millionär / Milliardär ist ohne Politik und Investitionen dahin gekommen, wo er heute ist

@user-ov6mu7op5i

3 жыл бұрын

Wer nicht an der Börse investiert, verpasst wirklich eine großartige Gelegenheit, die ich wirklich fürchte. Eine Zukunft ohne Investition ist wie eine Zukunft ohne Hoffnung

@pinjreclips3097

3 жыл бұрын

Ich mache enorme Gewinne mit meiner Investition, seit ich mit Frau Noello Qazi Handel treibe. Ihre Handelsstrategien sind erstklassige Paare mit der kleinen Provision, die sie für ihren Handel berechnet.

@pinpaulstamets3631

3 жыл бұрын

Ich habe auch bei Frau Noello Qazi investiert. Sie berechnet eine Provision von 20% auf den Gewinn, der nach jeder Handelssitzung erzielt wird, und das ist fair im Vergleich zu den Anstrengungen, die sie unternimmt, um enorme Gewinne zu erzielen.

@pinpaulstamets8190

3 жыл бұрын

Dies ist nicht das erste Mal, dass ich von Frau Noello Qazi höre und sie ihre Handelsfähigkeiten ausnutzt, aber ich habe keine Ahnung, wie ich sie erreichen kann.

@Vidsociety.

3 жыл бұрын

Sie müssen konsequent vorgehen, der Devisenhandel ist immer schwierig, aber Frau Qazi ist sehr gut.

As a kenyan am so glad to see a different version of democracy ; _kenya in general is suffering from insider_outsider dissonance that comes from the idea that some are more entitled than others ,this divides the legislature into 2 strong halves 50% majority AND 49% minority which is a disaster because lack of a third strong wing have turned kenya legislature into a tag of war and as a result the country accountability is met by blamegames that amount to loss of BILLIONS explaining the current debt burden _ My proposal to solve this problem is to first amend article 136 to change the presidency from a national competition to a REGIONAL SEQUENCIAL PRESIDENCY ...this will eliminate the current insider_outsider dissonance and also have a clear difference between the executive and the legistlature .... like the comment if you agree ....REPLY for any clarification or differrent opinion

@AschwandenJakob

3 ай бұрын

The same applies to several states. Even for the USA

Switzerland is not parliamentary. It is a collegial/plural executive/presidential system. There is no separate head of state (queen, president) who is a figurehead, and a head of state (prime minister) who rules; the two offices are combined and shared with all 7 members of the federal council.

I think if in addition to a jury of citizens and a choice of top 3 voting then this or a similar system could work anywhere

I like it here. And I have just relocated 10 month ago.

The US needs this system.

As a Swiss/Australia Citizen and have live in Switzerland for 34 years, I found your video astounding correct. I would think most system in the world would benefit from a consensus system then a government and an opposition. I am sick on tired to hear that was wrong from the government to do. Bring a better version or shut up. We need to work together to tackle our problems today. Therefore the Westminster System is a failure in 2022.

Would like to vote for ideas instead of persons...I wish I had a political system like that

We can learn a lot from the Swiss

Is there any major disadvantage compared to the US or UK governments?

@sdprz7893

3 жыл бұрын

Less power but that seems about it

@mitchaid77

3 жыл бұрын

Progress is slow. Very stable and continuous, but slow.

@zezebzeb

3 жыл бұрын

Yep, as some previous comments said our political system is slow and when there is crisis (like the covid right now) it is complicated for our federal government to take actions because we're used that is our cantons who do stuff mainly, so we are loosing time when it comes for stuff we don't have any, this is mainly why we were one of the worst European country when we had to deal with the second wave. But no political system is perfect :) and it is truly one of the best of the world

@juanmanuel3418

3 жыл бұрын

@@zezebzeb Does the Federal Council or the President have some Emergency Powers to deal with situations like COVID?

@zezebzeb

3 жыл бұрын

@@juanmanuel3418 Yes but it is really new! Like two or three years ago before covid we adopted a law regarding "epidemics", which gives more power to our federal government. We have a similar law if we go to war to another country (even if we didn't participate in any wars for the last 300 years). But our federal government was a bit shy to use fully this new law because of the tradition and political culture. They used it correctly with the 1st wave because it was new and we needed quick actions to be done, but they tried to give the power to the cantons at the second wave but was a massive failure, now they take back the management of this crisis and we are in a good situation. We opened gyms, theaters and cinema yesterday when France (which is 25 km far away from my home) is on a complete lockdown right now.

can you do this on australia please

Hello A great video but you got a thing wrong. A federal initative is not only voted by parlament but is mandatorily brought to a vote (of people and states). Yes the parlament can vote on it (i guess in pretty much every case "no") but it doesnt really matter what they say, its more a "suggestion for the voters".

This was a bit hard to follow, can't get a clear view in my head. Need more visual layout of the set-up But I am intrigued, I'll have to read up on it. From what I understood this is a game-changer and solves many of the problems of, for examble, African multi ethnical/Trible counteries.

@tobiasimobersteg

3 жыл бұрын

... and socially divided countries like the USA or France.

@swissarmyknife7670

3 жыл бұрын

I agree with you. The video is to much stock footage and not enough graphics. There are better videos on youtube. Basically there are two different parlaments and the 7 presidents. Everything they do can be changed by the people, and yes we do that often. So they could do totaly stupid things and the people just says no. For example joining the EU. The politicians would like to but not the people.

@antonyandrewson5803

3 жыл бұрын

Deffo disagree there. It would make things worse not better.

@marinamuller2385

3 жыл бұрын

What works in one country doesn’t necessarily work in another. There is not one recipe for success applicable to all states. It depends a lot on cultural background, historical context, and contemporary political developments. So just setting a system like this up in another country would be very culturally insensitive and would probably not work, because it would not resonate with the local culture and history

@tobiasimobersteg

3 жыл бұрын

@@marinamuller2385 I agree. One should not apply a recipe 1 to 1 from a country to another. But still, all countries worldwide were inspired and copied what other countries implemented successfully. In case of the Swiss model, I would for example definitely NOT recommend to copy the Swiss Popular initiative system. On the other hand, the recipe of the Swiss Referendum system should be imported by many. Should be.

. Why use the record scratch SFX every time the topic changes? And why does the music change every paragraph? It's distracting

The type of political depends a lot on the local/national culture and size of population and of territory. What works well there, would not work, e.g., in Argentina Colombia Russia ,USA or Brazil

@kevinemmanuel8525

2 жыл бұрын

Direct democracy wont work in Nigeria either.

Ireland may have to adopt a system very similar to this if we want to be united as one Ireland

@slainteCH

2 жыл бұрын

Bring a member State of the undemokratische Organisation called

5:29 Weird poster

A Referendum doesnt need to approved by the cantons just by the majority! The Initiative its different. Then you need the approve by the cantons

your right about the capital

Initiatives aren't really voted on by parliament. Their only job is to vote on whether the initiative ist valid or not. The latter happens extremely rarely (four since 1848). After that, the people and the cantons get to vote. Parliament and federal council only give a suggestion.

All I want to say as an Indian, is that the Swiss system can end India's super empowered Central Government and give the states real power but TBH there's a big chance the entire system will be torn apart by populists in a few years time!! BTW how does the Swiss system handle populists?

@Mitjitsu

3 жыл бұрын

That's why you make sure votes require super majorities. It stops people who live in densely populated areas from voting to extort the rest of the population.

@mstanner

3 жыл бұрын

If new members of the federal council are voted on, parliment has to agree with a prospect that one party puts forward. This forces parties which want a representative in the federal council to propose very agreeable (often joked uncharismatic) politicians of their own party. There was a politician of the rightwing party who lost his seat in the council because he was getting too populist i believe. Since in the end, every large policy change is going through the populus, individual politicians cannot really get populist.

@ritamdey6262

3 жыл бұрын

@@mstanner Interesting! But how do you get unpopular but required policies to pass?! Like for example, the current federal government wants to push a radical privatisation agenda that wants to slash the public sector in the country to it's minimum!! While most economist agree that it's required, atleast to some degree, this policy is not popular with the people!! Or take for example our 1991 Liberalisation reforms, they were a long time coming but were very unpopular amongst people!! How would Switzerland get these policies to pass??

@mstanner

3 жыл бұрын

@@ritamdey6262 Thats a difficult question and this might be just my opinion. Swiss politics is NOT perfect, but I believe there are some difference to make out. Simplified answer, when people can make their own decisions, they are a lot smarted that experts give them credit for and generally vote very informed and balanced. However, sometimes politics is just gridlocked and politicians just need to do a more convincing case or find a better consensus solution. So you are right to some extent. There is no way to force something "unpopular" but "required". I think that when people can vote for themselves, a culture developed that values education and a balanced media a lot. Political discourse is a lot less flashy and more concrete and specific than eg the Usa. People want to know exactly what they are voting for and populist slogans don't get you very far. Eg: There are nationalist parties in Switzerland that want to separate more from the eu (cancel bilateral agreements) and be more independent, not unlike Brexit for uk. However these attempts have all failed at the ballot boxes, largely because the people actually informed themselves about the benefits of these bilateral agreements and don't give much to these patriotic sentimental arguments. Eg2: On the other hand, the pension system AHV in Switzerland (the government branch of it, there is also an employer based and private portion) suffers under demographic problems like elsewhere. Referendums so far have all failed to find a consensus, for many reasons. This is an urgent issue, a solution is "required", but any solution proposed so far did not have a majority, ie was "unpopular". There is no way to just overwrite the will of the people as a politician and do something you believe is required. I think this is a good thing. It forces you to make more convincing cases and argue more substantively. Referendums here can get quite complex and detailed and I often find myself studying the booklets for hours to make and informed decision. I think your friends in your country would do the same if given the chance and your bill would find a majority eventually. to get your own picture: The referendums of 2020: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Swiss_referendums