As a result, it is worth spending time looking at how a direct democracy works. The “Change Switzerland!” campaign with the www.engage.ch platform, which is being organised for what is already the fifth time, offers this very opportunity. Participants can submit the issues that are important to them over a six-week period. Workshops on a range of topics also give the young people an insight into various issues of the future (environment, digitalisation, working world, etc.). More than 200 topics were submitted and the best submissions have now been selected by the six youngest members of the Council of States so that political initiatives can be launched together with the young people concerned.
Particularly in these times dominated by the pandemic, many young people are realising just how important it is to be able to help shape our political destiny. But democracy is an arduous process and rarely holds the promise of quick solutions. This was something that Peter Boder, a Baloise employee whose topic was submitted two years ago, has experienced first hand. His topic has still to be addressed by the Council.
A democracy has to deal with arguments and counterarguments. Solutions have to find the support of the majority and cannot simply force the opinion of a minority on a majority. And in particular, it is about respecting and accepting other people’s opinions. As long as there is trust in a country’s democratic institutions, a democracy can usually resolve conflicts peacefully. This is something we witnessed only recently in connection with the vote on the town of Moutier leaving the Canton of Bern and joining the Canton of Jura, in which the minority that lost accepted their political defeat.