Human communities are looking for the best organization of the political system, which will allow them to build a comfortable life and to secure the future. Today, the majority of the societies is in favor of democracy. Very unusual, unique democracy is the Swiss democracy. The direct democracy in the Swiss Confederation, and the influence of citizens on the political system is the subject of this article, which presents the phenomenon of direct democracy in Switzerland with a focus on functionality and dysfunctionality of the Swiss political system.
The main goal of the article is to answer the question about the role of direct de-mocracy in Swiss Cantons. The author in her considerations concentrates on such institu-tions as: cantonal referendum, cantonal popular initiatives and popular assembly (Landsgemeinde). The questions that were posed in this article were the following: how do the direct democratic institutions work in the Swiss Confederation? What kind of changes are taking place when it comes to cantonal forms of direct democracy? What is the role of Landsgemeinde and how does it function in practice? In the research process several research methods have been used by the author. They were: institutional-legal analysis that helped to study the legal acts on direct demo-cratic forms in Swiss cantons; quantitative analysis – basing on statistical data it was possible to evaluate the use of direct democratic forms of civic involvement. Also partic-ipative observation and individual interviews were very helpful in the research process – they were used during the author’s stays in Switzerland, where she was able to observe both Landsgemeinde – in 2013 in Appenzell Innerhoden and in 2014 in Glarus.
Szwajcaria jest jednym z nielicznych państw Europy Zachodniej, które nie przystąpiły do UE. Szwajcarzy kilkakrotnie wzywani byli do głosowania w referendum w sprawach związanych z UE, niemniej trzykrotnie głosowali przeciwko. Obywatele Szwajcarii wydają się być zadowoleni ze stosunków z UE opartych na umowach dwustronnych. Nie widzą potrzeby zacieśniania współpracy. Celem artykułu jest zbadanie czy obywatele Szwajcarii rzeczywiście nie chcą przystąpienia ich państwa do UE. Analiza negatywnych wyników referendów w sprawach dotyczących UE może być przydatna w zrozumieniu szwajcarskiego punktu widzenia.
EN
Switzerland is unique in Western Europe, not having joined the European Union (EU). Switzerland is still neither a member of the EU nor of the European Economic Area. However, the Swiss were asked to vote on issues concerning the EU several times. Three times the results of those referenda were negative. The Swiss seem to be satisfied with a relationship with the EU based on bilateral agreements. They do not see the need for closer cooperation, within the structure of the EU. The aim of this paper is to explore whether the citizens of Switzerland want to join the EU or not. Analyzing the negative results of Swiss referenda on issues concerning the EU might be helpful in understanding the Swiss point of view.
Direct democracy is seen as a complementary form of government in relation to representative democracy. It is intended to compensate for the shortcomings of representative democracy, and to ensure the direct participation of citizens in the exercise of power. One of the institutions of direct democracy, guaranteed in the constitutions and other legal acts of Lithuania and Latvia, is a popular initiative. Despite similar historical and political experiences, Lithuania and Latvia differ significantly between each other in their approach to direct democracy, including the popular initiative. The primary hypothesis of this paper is a statement that the popular initiative is a major institution of direct democracy used in these countries, but due to the difficult formal requirements, the institution of popular initiative is ineffective.
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