I’ve heard a rumor that there is an election in the United States coming up.
didn’t even know there was an election going on. as a registered voter in the state of pennsylvania, i wish someone could text me 12-15 times a day in an increasingly desperate tone about this upcoming event, which i had forgotten about
— sebastian castillo (@bartlebytaco) November 1, 2024
I vote in Pennsylvania (and have already voted, thank you very much!). It’s all-consuming for many Americans and, frankly, the whole world. Last week, the gynecologist asked me whether I thought Trump or Harris would win. (Fortunately, he asked me while I was seated, fully clothed, in his office and not in a more delicate situation.)
I’d like to counter that with what goes in in Swiss elections.
What Swiss Elections Look Like
Switzerland, like the United States, has a federal government and a bunch of states–except we call them in Cantons, that come together. There are various parliaments at the federal and local levels. In German, each of these councils is called a Rat. And you have a Grosser (Large) Rat and a Kleiner (Small) Rat. Frankly, referring to politicians as running for the Grosser Rat is number one for accuracy for American politicians.
This is my friend Bret, who has dual citizenship in the US and Switzerland and has run for office in Basel. (You can watch Bret’s DisruptHR talk here.) I asked Bret about the difference between US and Swiss politics. He said:
The main difference is that we have over 5 major, legitimate parties.
1. As a result of that, you MUST always work with the parties that you don’t agree with. Otherwise, nothing would ever happen.
2. Once a decision is reached in that group of parties, EVERYONE carries it. It is frowned upon to say, “That wasn’t my decision!”
Those are huge differences. While the US has a zillion parties, there are only two that have any chance of winning the presidency or control in any major sense. And the parties do not work together well.
Direct Democracy
The other big difference in Swiss elections is the power of the people. The United States is a republic, even though we frequently say a democracy. Switzerland is also a republic but is probably the most democratic country in the world. Many, many things are done through initiatives and referendums.
Initiatives are proposals brought forward by any citizen. If you want to create a law, you need 100,000 signatures from eligible Swiss voters within 18 months, and then it goes to the ballot, where the majority rules.
Referendums are easier to conduct. Again, they are citizen-led processes in which you want to undo or change something that the Swiss parliament has done. You only need 55,000 signatures to get that on the ballot.
A Swiss colleague explained that Swiss people don’t talk endlessly about politics because if they don’t like something, they can change it. On the other hand, Americans get to vote for a president every four years, and all we can do is complain. Sure, we can do a lot, but we don’t have a national referendum system. Some states do, but we don’t do it nationally. We have no mechanism for responding to dumb laws other than waiting to vote individual congress people out and hoping the next congress fixes it.
Elections around these parts are very different than those in the US. And, frankly, I prefer the Swiss system.