Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Democracy – Switzerland'

At first glance, the very idea of analysing the freedom of the media and of researching censorship in Switzerland seems absurd. After all, the Federal Constitution explicitly guarantees freedom of the media, and censorship is forbidden. Furthermore, this small, federal, multilingual and multicultural landlocked country in the middle of Europe is universally praised as a model of democracy. Indeed, in a country whose people have a far greater say in government than anywhere else, one could easily assume that the freedom of the media is a foregone conclusion. Yet, in reality, this shining image is more than a little tarnished. The "Prototype for Europe" – as the former Federal President of Germany Richard von Weizsäcker once described Switzerland – experiences the same forms and mechanisms of censorship as any other democratic country. Of course, in Switzerland "undesirable" journalists are not threatened with murder, but critically discerning authors do risk becoming social outcasts. Switzerland prohibits governmental pre-censorship, but the advertising industry has on occasion attempted to shape the content of the media by means of post-publication censorship in the form of boycotts. Switzerland is a constitutional state, yet the paragraphs of its penal and civil codes hang over media workers like the sword of Damocles. Then there are structural problems such as the lack of proper journalistic education. However one looks at it, the freedom of the media in Switzerland is officially, materially and structurally restricted. However, most people remain unconcerned by and indeed unaware of this state of affairs. Thomas Jefferson's reminder that, "to preserve the freedom of the human mind then and freedom of the press, every spirit should be ready to devote itself to martyrdom; for as long as we may think as we will, and speak as we think, the condition of man will proceed in improvement”*, has long been forgotten in Switzerland. The Swiss appear to be basking in their country’s reputation as a place without media problems. It therefore came as no surprise to us when, both in our quantitative and qualitative research, many of those interviewed were surprised and even irritated at our 2 questions about possible threats to freedom of the media in Switzerland. Some people even felt that they were being personally attacked and responded along the lines that "Instead of fouling our own nest we ought to describe the advantages of our country and our democratic system". Or: "In comparison with Russia or China we are living in a paradise": It seems that only the most critical among the media personnel, media experts and media scientists are willing to pinpoint the problems faced by the contemporary Swiss media. All the others are convinced that we have the best media on earth. This attitude of part indifference, part ignorance and part wishful thinking, was the catalyst for our research on the freedom of the Swiss media and the potential dangers and mechanisms which threaten it. Our findings reveal that all that glitters is not gold and that the Swiss media scene is, in some ways, reminiscent of a Potemkin village. *Jefferson, Thomas, Letter to William Green Mumford, 18 June 1799 (http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/jefferson.htm, consulted 15 June 2006)

This paper seeks to explore why the people of Switzerland have preponderantly voted in favour of a strong military defence despite the reality of Swiss security in the 21st century being dependent on international collaboration outside the military arena. The conundrum is answered by determining the Swiss Federal Council’s strategic narrative regarding security, through examination of its explanatory texts in voting booklets between 1978 and 2020, finding that the matter of armed neutrality is a red thread. Either neutrality is used as justification of an act supported by the Federal Council, or that neutrality would be harmed by popular initiatives the Council does not endorse.

In many countries, citizens have the power to propose new laws oramendments to their constitutions by popular initiatives. Provided that they have a special legitimacy, they are often regulated by different procedures to the legislation enacted by the legislature and may be used by their proponents to avoid the restrictions that the “ordinary” legislation is subject to. Recently, this has led that several popular initiatives which have come into conflict with the rights of minorities, fundamental rights of other affected groups, and other constitutional guarantees have been submitted. From the perspective of a comparative analysis, this article explores whether the laws in Switzerland and California set the procedural and substantive restrictions to this mechanism of direct democracy and to what extent. In this context, the author questionswhether the scope and enjoyment of fundamental rights may be subject to popular initiatives. Finally, several recommendations are made to improve the legal limits of popular initiatives and their control mechanisms to ensure that the scope and enjoyment of fundamental rights are not subject to the contentof popular initiatives.
En muchos países, los ciudadanos tienen la facultad de proponer nuevas leyes o modificaciones a la Constitución mediante iniciativas populares. Dado que las mismas gozan de una legitimación especial muchas veces se regulan por procedimientos diferentes a la legislación promulgada por la legislatura y pueden ser usados por sus proponentes para esquivar las restricciones a las que la legislación «ordinaria» está sujeta. Eso ha llevado a que, recientemente, se han presentado varias iniciativas populares que han entrado en conflicto con los derechos de las minorías, derechos fundamentales de otros grupos afectados, y otras garantías constitucionales. Desde una perspectiva de análisis comparativo, este artículo explora si las legislaciones en Suiza y California establecen restricciones procedimentales y sustantivas a este mecanismo de democracia directa y en qué medida. En este contexto, cuestiona si el alcance y el disfrute de los derechos fundamentales pueden estar sujetos a iniciativas populares. Finalmente, este artículo hace ciertas recomendaciones destinadas a mejorar los límites legales de las iniciativas populares y de sus mecanismos de control para garantizar que el alcance y el disfrute de los derechos fundamentales no estén sujetos al contenido de iniciativas populares.

This thesis deals with the theme of bilateral relations between the EU and Switzerland, focusing on the current phenomenon of migration. The EU and Switzerland cooperate on bilateral sectoral basis, since Switzerland (hence the citizens of Switzerland) does not want to integrate into the European internal market to maintain its sovereignty and autonomy. Within the first series of bilateral agreements between the EU and Switzerland an agreement on free movement of persons was signed, thereby Switzerland opened its labour market to EU citizens. In February 2014, however, the citizens of Switzerland used the institution of direct democracy and adopted by a narrow majority the initiative to stop mass immigration. This step disrupted the agreement on free movement of persons and the complex negotiations started in order to solve this impasse. The aim of the thesis is to evaluate the impacts of immigration on the Swiss economy and the subsequent evaluation of the reasonableness to mitigate the immigration through a citizens' initiative.

Notre travail de recherche a pour objectif de faire avancer les savoirs sur le dispositif de l’initiative populaire en Suisse. L’enjeu principal de cette thèse en science politique vise à questionner l’organisation du pouvoir en démocratie. Pour ce faire, nous proposons une réflexion autour du contre-pouvoir en démocratie « directe ». En étudiant les rapports de domination entre les représentants de l’autorité fédérale et les membres des comités d’initiative, nous donnons à voir une nouvelle compréhension du contre-pouvoir et de ses effets. En adoptant un regard à la fois historique, sociologique et philosophique sur ce processus politique, nous souhaitons porter une critique originale du système suisse et du fonctionnement de ses mécanismes de démocratie directe. Notre démarche épistémologique se fondera sur des principes déterministes et spinozistes afin de mieux saisir les affects et les indignations qui engendrent l’engagement en politique. Enfin, nous interrogerons les conséquences contrastées du contre-pouvoir au prisme de plusieurs théories structurantes de l’histoire des idées des démocraties occidentales. En somme, nous posons la question suivante: l’initiative populaire en Suisse favorise-t-elle l’avènement de l’idéal démocratique ?
Our research work aims to advance knowledge about the popular initiative system in Switzerland. The main issue of this thesis in political science is to question the organization of power in a democracy. To do this, we propose a reflection on counter-power in a "direct" democracy. By studying the relationships of domination between representatives of federal authority and members of initiative committees, we provide a new understanding of the counter-power and its effects. By taking a historical, sociological and philosophical look at this political process, we wish to offer an original critique of the Swiss system and the functioning of its direct democracy mechanisms. Our epistemological approach will be based on deterministic and spinozist principles in order to better understand the affects and indignations that generate political engagement. Finally, we will examine the contrasting consequences of counter-power in the light of several structuring theories of ideas history of Western democracies. In short, we ask the following question: Does the popular initiative in Switzerland promote the democratic ideal?

Historiquement sceptique au sujet d’une intégration à la Communauté Européenne, la Suisse s’est engagée ces vingt dernières années sur une voie de rapprochement, à travers les premiers accords bilatéraux signés en 1999 dont un des chapitres fondamentaux est la libre circulation des personnes. Certains ont vu dans cet engagement un premier pas vers une intégration toujours plus étroite avec l’Union Européenne (UE), d’autres une nécessaire concession pour permettre à la Suisse de préserver sa souveraineté tout en bénéficiant des opportunités économiques du géant européen. Que ce soit par le premier volet des accords bilatéraux précédemment évoqué ou par le second volet entériné en 2004, une volonté politique forte a prévalu de la part de la classe politique suisse pour un rapprochement avec l’Union Européenne. Dans ce cadre, la spécificité helvétique a fait que le peuple a été amené à se prononcer sur ces jalons essentiels de la coopération grandissante entre la Suisse et l’UE. C’est ainsi que les partis politiques ont du se livrer à une compétition ardue opposant le camp en faveur de l’ouverture à l’UE à leurs détracteurs, farouches opposants à tout accord bilatéral présenté par l’UE. Ainsi, entre 1999 et 2014, le peuple suisse a été sollicité à huit reprises par voie de référendum pour se prononcer sur la poursuite des accords bilatéraux, cette « troisième voie » à mi-chemin de l’isolationnisme et de l’intégration européenne, entre leur pays et l’UE. Durant ces quinze années et au gré de ces campagnes référendaires, les partis politiques ont été amenés à se positionner sur chacun de ses objets en produisant un matériel de campagne conséquent portant sur l’UE. La période 1999-2014 correspond donc à un ‘momentum’, une période intense autour de l’enjeu européen. Ces huit votations ont mises en avant un aspect des relations bilatérales entre la Suisse et l’Union Européenne. Le thème de cette recherche s’inscrit ainsi dans l’analyse de la représentation de l’UE et des dynamiques de compétition en Suisse à travers l’étude du discours que les partis politiques majeurs de la vie politique suisse ont tenu aucours des campagnes référendaires dites ‘européennes’
Known to be reluctant on European integration, Switzerland has been taking significant steps towards rapprochement with the European Union (EU) over the last twenty years through the first bilateral agreements signed in 1999, one of the fundamental chapters of which is the free movement of persons. On the one hand, this has been considered by some scholars and political observers as a first commitment towards an ever closer integration with the EU. On the other hand, some have seen through this agreement a necessary concession allowing Switzerland to preserve its sovereignty while benefiting from the economic opportunities of the European giant. Whether through the first set of bilateral agreements previously mentioned or the second set endorsed in 2004, a strong political will has prevailed from the Swiss political elite for a rapprochement with the European Union. In this context, the specificity of the country has led the Swiss people to decide on these crucial milestones about thegrowing cooperation between Switzerland and the EU. This is why the political parties had to engage in a though competition opposing those in favor of more EU and those being euro-skeptical, fierce opponents of any bilateral agreement presented by the EU. Consequently, the Swiss people have been involved eight times between 1999 and 2014 into referendum voting to decide if bilateral agreements and European integration should be pursued. This is known to be the Swiss "third way", halfway between isolationism and European integration. During these fifteen years, the political parties had to develop their arguments and strategies on every EU topic brought into the political arena. Hence, a sizeable amount of texts, speeches and discourses have been produced in the framework of these campaigns about the EU. The period 1999-2014 fits to a 'momentum', an intense period around the European challenge. These eight referendums shed the light on an essential aspect of the bilateral relations between Switzerland and the European Union. The scope of this research is about the analysis of the EU representation and competition dynamics in Switzerland through the study of the discourse that the major political parties of the Swiss political arena have been producing during the 'European' campaigns of these referendums

Norwegen und die Schweiz sind keine EU-Mitgliedstaaten, weil die Bevölkerungen die Integration mehrheitlich in Referenden ablehnte. Die enorme Mobilisierung und Emotionalisierung in den nationalen Integrationsdebatten kann weder durch ökonomische noch durch politische Umstände hinreichend erklärt werden, zumal die Eliten beider Länder mehrheitlich die Integration unterstützen. Die Hauptmobilisierungsressource von Euroskeptikern liegt vielmehr darin, tief verwurzelte nationale Selbst- und Fremdbilder zu reaktivieren. Diese Diskursanalyse beschreibt vergleichend, auf welche Art und Weise die größten euroskeptischen Akteure der Schweiz und Norwegens diesen Rückgriff auf das Nationale in Integrationsdebatten herstellen. Gefragt wird, wie die „Aktion für eine Unabhängige und Neutrale Schweiz“ (AUNS) und die eng mit ihr verbundene „Schweizerische Volkspartei“ (SVP) einerseits, und die norwegische Bewegung „Nein zur EU“ (norwegisch: Nei Til EU) andererseits, ihren Integrationswiderstand mittels nationaler Narrationen und Bildersprachen als sinnvoll darstellen. Hierzu werden umfangreiche euroskeptische Bild- und Textquellen referiert und gedeutet. Damit wird ein Beitrag zur Forschung über das Selbstverständnis, die Denkweise, die Rhetorik und das Tugendsystem anti-integratorischer Bewegungen geleistet. Denn Euroskeptiker verstehen sich primär als Verteidiger der guten nationalen Gemeinschaft. Diese Gemeinschaft und dessen Nationalstaat beschreiben sie als wärmer, natürlicher, näher, gerechter, effizienter, friedlicher und demokratischer als das integrierte Europa, welches als ferner, kalter, bürokratischer Superstaat EU dargestellt wird.
Norway and Switzerland are not member states of the EU, since the majority of the people rejected integration in several referenda. The emotionality and the enormous mobilisation in national debates on integration cannot sufficiently be explained by economic and political reasons, since the majority of the elites are supporting integration. Instead, the main resource of mobilisation for Eurosceptics lies in reactivating deeply rooted descriptions of national self and other. For carving out these collective images, this discourse-analysis compares how the major Eurosceptical actors of Switzerland, the “Action for an Independent and Neutral Switzerland” (AUNS) together with the tightly connected “Swiss People’s Party” (SVP), on one hand, and the Norwegian movement “No To EU” (NEI TIL EU), on the other hand, describe their actions as meaningful in their iconography and narrations. In doing so, the study refers to and interprets extensive material from Eurosceptical actors and contributes to the understanding of Eurosceptical self-perception, ways of thinking, rhetoric and virtue system. Here Eurosceptics perceive themselves mainly as defenders of the national community and its nation-state, which are regarded as warm, natural, close, justified, efficient, peaceful and democratic, while Europe is perceived as the cold, distant, bureaucratic superstate EU.

Defence date: 29 June 2015
Examining Board: Professor Rainer Bauböck, EUI (Supervisor); Professor Philippe Van Parijs, UC Louvain (Co-supervisor); Professor Hanspeter Kriesi, EUI; Professor Nadia Urbinati, Columbia University.
This dissertation aims to arrive at a model of democratic legitimacy for the European Union. There is, however, a strain of thought pre-dominant in political theory since the nineteenth century that doubts the capacity of political systems constituted by multiple public spheres to have sustainable democratic systems. This view is referred to here as the lingua franca thesis on sustainable democratic systems (LFT). It states that, in the absence of a common language for political debate, democracy cannot function well in the long-term as citizens existing in distinctive public spheres will inevitably come to have diverging preferences that cannot be satisfactorily resolved by a collective democratic process. Poor quality democratic institutions, as well as acute demands to divide the political system (through devolution or secession) so that state and society become more congruent, are predicted by this thesis. To arrive at a model of democratic legitimacy for the EU, in light of the challenge presented by the LFT, three major steps are taken. Part One attempts to arrive at an account of democratic legitimacy as a realistic ideal for modern political systems. Understanding democracy as a system which strives to maximise citizens’ equal opportunities for control over the decisions to which they are subject, the maximisation of electoral and direct voting opportunities for citizens is recommended, subject to certain practical constraints. Importantly, democratically legitimate institutions are identified as having important external effects, which amount to more than just the peaceful resolution of conflict. Centripetal democracy is the idea that legitimate democratic institutions set in motion forms of citizen practice and representative behaviour that serve as powerful drivers of demos-formation. In the second part of this dissertation, an effort is made to both classify and normatively assess the EU. As a political system the EU is taken to be a demoi-cracy, or a democracy of democracies, whereby the demoi of the member states take sovereign precedence over the European demos constituting the citizens of Europe as a whole. While citizen’s control over their respective governments’ roles in EU decision-making is seen to have significant shortfalls, the major democratic deficiencies are detected in citizens’ control over actors located exclusively at the European level. Overall, the absence of voting opportunities directly connecting citizens to European power ensures that the EU is not controlled by its citizens in a way that is commensurate with the power it wields. If the EU is to democratise, it must be capable of dealing with the dynamics predicted by the LFT. Part Three of this dissertation analyses the sustainability of democracy in two political systems that bear striking resemblances to the EU, namely Belgium and Switzerland. Like the EU, these are multilevel and multilingual political systems attempting to organise themselves in a democratic fashion. Belgium proves to be a near perfect case for corroborating the LFT, its linguistic communities finding it increasingly difficult to coexist in one democratic community. Switzerland, by contrast, has managed to produce one of the most democratically legitimate political systems in the modern world, despite being fractured into linguistically distinct public spheres. As my conception of centripetal democracy predicts, however, the Swiss success in integrating the public spheres within one political system is in no small part related to the arrangement of its democratic institutions. That being said, there are certain conditions that made the development of centrifugal forces more likely and centripetal democracy less likely in Belgium than in Switzerland. In Part Four, where I finally derive a model of democratic legitimacy for the EU, it is demonstrated that while many of the conditions that made centrifugal forces so strong in Belgium are not (or not yet) present in the EU, the conditions for the development of a legitimate democratic process are also generally lacking. This is especially true when it comes to the introduction of direct democracy at Union level, although there may be fewer obstacles to making European institutions more electorally accountable.

L'introduction des OGM dans le domaine agricole soulève diverses préoccupations. Qu'il s'agisse du type d'agriculture ou des aliments que nous privilégions pour l'avenir, de la sauvegarde des écosystèmes et des patrimoines culturels, des questions de justice, d'équité et d'éthique, les choix de société que suscitent les OGM sont nombreux. Notre argumentation est à l'effet que, seul un processus démocratique offrant aux citoyens la possibilité d'exprimer leurs préoccupations, commentaires et opinions sur le développement des aliments transgéniques est en mesure de permettre une prise de décision éclairée des autorités quant à ces choix de société. Les gouvernements de nombreux pays démontrent par ailleurs leur volonté d'ouvrir le dialogue avec le grand public sur les enjeux que suscitent ces nouvelles technologies. Notre étude analyse différents modèles de participation du public aux décisions portant sur les OGM au sein de trois pays, la France, la Suisse et le Canada. Nous avons organisé ces modèles en les classant sous trois rubriques : les instruments de la démocratie directe, l'implication de membres de la société dans les processus d'évaluation, les débats publics. Nous constatons alors que malgré les efforts des autorités pour démocratiser les prises de décisions en cette matière, de nombreux facteurs, tels la logique technicienne dans laquelle s'inscrivent les décisions ainsi que les lacunes inhérentes au régime représentatif, ne permettent pas une véritable prise en compte de l'opinion des citoyens. Il s'agit donc de s'interroger sur la pertinence et l'opportunité d'utiliser le référendum afin de traiter des questions associées aux OGM.
The introduction of GMOs into agri-business has brought forth many public concems, such as the type of agriculture or the kind of foods we choose for our future, the safekeeping of our ecosystems and our cultural heritage, or matters of justice linked to ethics and equity. Our argumentation is that only a democratic process that offers to the citizens the possibility to express their views and concems on the development of GMOs will allow the authorities to make enlightened decisions on these matters. Moreover, many govemments have already shown interest in opening communication lines with the general public on the stakes created by these new technologies. This study analyzes different forms of public participation in the decision-making process conceming GMOs in three different countries, France, Switzerland and Canada. These models have been divided into three categories : the instruments of direct democracy, participation of different members of society in the evaluation processes, and public debates. We note that in spite of the efforts of the govemments to democratize decisionmaking in these matters, many factors such as technical reasoning into which decisions are inscribed as weIl as the inherent gaps of the representative model, prevent from taking the opinions of citizens into consideration. Therefore, we should ask ourselves about the relevance and the convenience of using the referendum to treat the concems associated with GMOs.
"Mémoire présenté à la Faculté des études supérieures en vue de l'obtention du grade de Maître en droit (LL.M.)"

This thesis is a socio-historical study which shows the correlation between the historically developed leadership culture of democracy and the leadership practice within the evangelical churches of Switzerland. After clarifying the theological understanding in the mutual relationship of leadership and culture, first the historical development of the Swiss leadership culture is described. This development is rooted in the cultural heritage of the Celts, the Romans and the Alemannen, as well as in the history of the Swiss-Confederation and the history of Christianity. In the light of this historically founded leadership culture, the study deals further with the present leadership situation of the evangelical churches. Central fundamental values of the Swiss-leadership-culture prove to be: No power to the individual, democratic right of co-determination, federalist freedom and the importance of achievement and work. The thesis concludes with an outlook on servant leadership as an up-to-date answer to the present Swiss leadership culture.
Practical Theology
MTH (PRACTICAL THEOLOGY)

This thesis examines Switzerland’s conflict around the integration of non-citizens in the context of the Swiss system of direct democracy. Through a case study on three recent referendum initiatives on immigrant policy, my research sought to answer the question: How does the use of referenda on immigrant policy impact public discourses on the social and political integration of non-citizens in German-speaking Switzerland? In exploring this question, I focused on how public discourses addressed the link between direct democracy, immigrant policy and non-citizen experiences. I analysed political advertisements, newspaper articles, and data collected in an interview with Swiss resident author Dragica Rajčić. My research findings showed that the use of referendum initiatives to make decisions on immigrant policy has had a significant impact on integration discourses. In particular, it has provided the conservative nationalist Swiss People’s Party with the opportunity to move their political agenda to the forefront of public debates. My findings also demonstrated that non-citizen perspectives were marginalized in the public discourses under examination. I therefore concluded that the process of transforming the Swiss conflict around the integration of immigrants will require Swiss governments to re-imagine how the political participation of non-citizens can be institutionalized. Granting non-citizens a more active political role would promote cross-cultural dialogue and understanding, making Switzerland’s direct democracy more democratic.
Graduate

The Diploma thesis will deal the main actors who support elements of direct democracy in Czech political system. Concurrently I want critically approach to their thesis and valorize its relevance, viability and potential impact for Czech society. First of all I will present each of elements of direct democracy, which are town meeting, initiative, referendum and recall. I refuse that a direct election of president or other political actor is an element of direct democracy. I classify a direct election of political actor like a synonym of representative democracy in this Diploma thesis. I will also present examples of countries like Switzerland or California, which has huge experience with using of direct democracy. Focus of my interest will be also on Scottish independence referendum and Slovak referendum about family and marriage. After this theoretical and empirical introduction I will critically approach to thesis about elements of direct democracy of Czech political actor like the Dawn of Direct Democracy, the Public Affairs, the Movement for Direct Democracy and the Czech Pirates Party, however I will mention other political actors and theirs ideas of elements of direct democracy, mainly I will mention the Czech government's proposition of law about general referendum in Czech republic. The...

203 12 Dissertation Summary Dissertation title: Democracy in the Lack of Interest: the Effects of Remote Internet Voting Implementation in the Electoral Process of Selected Countries Name and Surname: Karel Sál Field of Study: Political Science Place of Work: Institute of Political Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague Dissertation Supervisor: PhDr. Petr Jüptner, Ph.D. No. of Pages: 203 No. of Appendixes: 30 Year of Defense: 2016 Keywords: internet voting; remote internet voting; electoral turnout; crisis of democracy; theory of participation; rational choice theory; Estonia; Switzerland; France; Norway; Spain. Abstract: The dissertation thesis named Democracy in the Lack of Interest: the Effects of Remote Internet Voting Implementation in the Electoral Process of Selected States reflects the phenomenon of the last decade - incorporation of new media into the political process. Internet voting is one of the discussed and suggested solutions of the so-called crisis of democracy, which could possibly stop the negative trend of diminishing voter turnout in advanced western democracies. The entire academic debate can be summarized into one question: It is possible, that the way of ballot casting can affect the voter turnout in that scale, that we can recognize a significant-positive...