Direkte Demokratie in der Schweiz – Landesbericht 2013 (Direct Democracy in Switzerland – Country Report 2013)

Abstract

German Abstract: Dieser Landesbericht schildert die Entwicklung der schweizerischen direkten Demokratie im Berichtszeitraum. Er enthält einen Überblick über die hängigen Verfahren auf Bundesebene. Ausserdem werden Schwerpunkte der Entwicklung in Bund, Kantonen und Gemeinden behandelt.

English Abstract: This country report analyzes the narrow success (50.3% Yes) of the Mass-Immigration- Initiative that will, if properly implemented, violate the bilateral treaties between Switzerland and the European Union and, thereby, perhaps trigger the end of this form of cooperation. The report also goes into the current discussion about the reform of direct democratic instruments, e.g., by raising the signature threshold for public initiatives. During the report year there was a remarkable "partial" invalidation of an initiative. In the long history of modern Switzerland, i.e., since the inception of the federal state in 1848, there have been only four invalidations of public initiatives and never before has the parliament decided for a part of an initiative to be struck out of the voting process.

Note: Downloadable document is in German.

Keywords: Mass-Immigration-Initiative, Precedence of Public International Law, Management, Salaries, Initiatives