Editing Politics of Switzerland (section)

== Direct representation ==
{{See also|Voting in Switzerland}}
Switzerland features a system of government not seen in any other nation: direct representation, sometimes called half-direct democracy (this may be arguable, because theoretically, the sovereign of Switzerland is actually its entire electorate).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Butler |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GXV-HFnk_9wC&pg=PR9 |title=Referendums Around the World: The Growing Use of Direct Democracy |date=1994 |publisher=American Enterprise Institute |isbn=9780844738536 |language=en}}</ref> [[Referendum]]s on the most important laws have been used since the [[Switzerland as a federal state|1848 constitution]].

Amendments to the Federal Constitution of Switzerland, the joining of international organisations, or changes to federal laws that have no foundation in the constitution but will remain in force for more than one year must be put to a popular vote and approved by the majority of both the people and the [[Cantons of Switzerland|cantons]], a [[double majority]]. These are called mandatory referendums. In March 2024 75% of mandatory referendums were accepted from a total of 226<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Politics |url=https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/politics.html |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=www.bfs.admin.ch |language=en}}</ref>

Any citizen may challenge a law that has been passed by parliament through an optional referendum. If that person is able to gather 50,000 signatures against the law within 100 days of the legislation being published, a national vote has to be scheduled where voters decide by a [[Majority|simple majority]] of the voters whether to accept or reject the law.<ref name="Cormon">[[Pierre Cormon]], Swiss Politics for Complete Beginners, Editions Slatkine, 2014, {{ISBN|978-2-8321-0607-5}}</ref> In March 2024 58% of optional referendums were accepted from a total of 209<ref name=":0" />

Furthermore, any citizen may seek a decision on an [[Constitutional amendment|amendment]] they want to make to the constitution. For such a [[federal popular initiative]] to be organised, the signatures of 100,000 voters must be collected within 18 months.{{sfn|Cormon|2014|p=23}} Such a [[federal popular initiative]] is formulated as a precise new text (general proposal initiatives have been canceled in 2009)<ref>{{cite web |last=ChF |first=Chancellerie fédérale |title=Votation No |url=http://www.admin.ch/ch/f/pore/va/20090927/det544.html |access-date=19 April 2018 |website=Admin.ch}}</ref> whose wording can no longer be changed by parliament and the government. After a successful signature gathering, the [[Federal Council (Switzerland)|Federal Council]] may create a counterproposal to the proposed amendment and put it to vote on the same day as the original proposal. Such counterproposals are usually a compromise between the ''[[status quo]]'' and the wording of the initiative. Voters will decide in a national vote whether to accept the initiative amendment, the counterproposal put forward by the government if any, or both. If both are accepted, one has to additionally signal a preference. Initiatives (that are of constitutional level) have to be accepted by a [[double majority]] of both the popular votes and a majority of the cantons, while counter-proposals may be of legislative level and hence require only simple majority. In March 2024 11% of popular initiatives were accepted from a total of 231<ref name=":1" />

=== Challenges of direct democracy ===
When the optional referendum was first introduced in 1874 and the popular initiative was introduced in 1891, decisions by the liberal government at the time were constantly challenged and blocked through the use of these mechanisms by the conservatives who had lost the civil war in 1849. This resulted in a success rate of less than 50% for government decisions at the time. In this case, these direct democracy mechanisms directly inhibited the government’s ability to legislate and progress decisions. <ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Kübler |first=Daniel |date=2024-06-01 |title=Citizen participation through direct legislation: a road to success? A perspective from Switzerland |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43508-024-00092-7 |journal=Global Public Policy and Governance |language=en |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=184–196 |doi=10.1007/s43508-024-00092-7 |issn=2730-6305|doi-access=free }}</ref>

To resolve this problem, pre-parliamentary consultations were institutionalized in the early 20<sup>th</sup> century.  The Swiss government now undertakes procedures and practices that includes key stakeholders that would have the power and resources to challenge legislation through referendum in the process of formulating and writing legislation.  If these key groups respond negatively towards a proposed piece of legislation, the government will often sand down the edges to achieve a compromised position that is less likely to be formally challenged via a referendum or initiative.  In the last decade only approximately 5% of legislative acts were challenged to a referendum, of which over 70% were approved in the popular vote.<ref name=":2" />

To ensure that certain powerful groups do not entirely control the narrative on issues up for popular votes, there are rules in place such as prohibiting political advertising on television and radio and the media are required to provide fair and balanced accounts of events related to elections and popular votes. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Voting rights |url=https://www.ch.ch/en/votes-and-elections/votes/right-to-vote/#voting-rights-of-non-swiss-citizens |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=www.ch.ch |language=en}}</ref>