Policy Decision Making In Switzerland And The United Kingdom

How Does the Use of Referendums, as a Tool of Direct Democracy, Affect Policy Decision Making in Switzerland and the United Kingdom
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Introduction
Most of the governments across the world are entrenching referendum as part of their political system to enhance democracy. Political theorists express the supremacy of democracy which is remedied by the popular voters. Direct democracy through referendum allows both elections of public officials and direct determination of public policies. Countries have established the principle that requires them to conduct a referendum before making any fundamental constitutional change in expression of sovereignty (Renwick, 2018). Politicians always continue to apply democracy through a referendum which encourages public voting to ensure their participation in Policy decision-making. The referendum is therefore considered an essential direct democracy tool in decision making among countries. This paper thus provides a comparison of how referendum as a tool of direct democracy affects policy decision-making in Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Decision-making structure is a specific pattern of relations between different stakeholders which collaborate and struggle to influence the network of the policy. The power of public opinion influences the outputs of decision-making processes in a democratic country. Direct democratic institutions limit the decision-making process form being influenced by a few individuals with powers in the country like the politicians. For instance, citizens in Switzerland have recourse to the tools of direct democracy thus opposing the decision-making process which is controlled by the elites in the society. In the United Kingdom, the legislation restricts decision-making processes without the involvement of the popular contest through conducting a referendum. The political system of Switzerland has blamed direct democracy system especially on the issue of the referendum which requires public opinion thus challenging European integration approaches.
It is important to define clearly the difference between different mechanism and procedures of direct democracy. For instance, a democracy based on the power of the majority provides the members of the public with the power to participate in major policy decision-making processes of a country. To enhance democracy, Switzerland has been using direct democracy approach through referendum as an instrument of political and policy decision-making (Wagschal, 2014). The United Kingdom has placed the issue of the referendum in a constitution on major issues that directly affects the members of the public. Among the proposed referendums are on issues concerning European constitution, the Euro, proportional presentation and the referendum on the Good Friday Agreement. Other issues that need to be voted through a referendum include devolution in Scotland, Wales, and London in the North East of England. The country is constituting to include in the referendum issues on the institution of representative government as a way of simulating the power of the majority into the leadership.
For the past years, the United Kingdom has not been taking the issue on the referendum with any seriousness, until recently when they feel the need of facilitating public opinion on national matters through voting. In Switzerland, the government officials have indicated no support on the idea of initiating direct democracy through a referendum on a permanent basis in the government institutions. This has been the case as the country’s intention is to by-pass leaders in the public offices. The influence of referendum in the United Kingdom is associated with other nations practicing direct democracy like the United States and Australia. The British itself is seen to have been satisfied with their normal ruling system with no need for direct democracy.
The power of direct or pure democracy allows members of the public to make direct decisions concerning public policy initiatives. Political leaders in countries like Switzerland would prefer representative democracies which allow a few selected individuals to make decisions on behalf of the majority. In such cases, citizens are involved in voting for representatives who are involved in enacting policy initiatives. Direct democracy practiced in Switzerland requires the public to adhere to the policies formulated by the elected legislature through voting. In this case, Switzerland is considered to practice direct democracy in parallel democracy, which mainly limits the members of the public to directly participate in policy decision-making of the country (Marjorie, 2009). However, the members of the public in Switzerland are permitted to challenge any approved law by the parliament and proposed the modification of the constitution through a referendum.
In Switzerland, a referendum is used as a tool for direct democracy by providing citizens with the power to determine how they are governed. Members of the public regulate decisions made by the elected representatives in the parliament by either accepting or rejecting policies formulated. Among the experienced impacts of direct democracy in Switzerland is observed through the popular federal initiative that required the members of the public to demand through a referendum a modification of constitution. The power of the citizens was heard by their ability to collect over 100,000 signatures of supporters to demand a constitutional referendum. Switzerland has adopted a voting approach in both initiatives and referendums approximately four times a year. Most of the country’s policy-making decisions that require voting in Switzerland include healthcare, taxes, drug policies, public transport policies, immigration, education, and the welfare of the citizens.
The most common form of direct legislation practiced in Switzerland involves conducting a compulsory referendum to address the proposed legislation drafted by the elites to bind popular vote. The members of the public are empowered to petition statutory measures or even proposed reforms in the constitution by the government representatives. The direct popular vote approach has been considered as an effective approach of ensuring that the members of the public are directly or indirectly involved in country’s leadership especially in decision-making (Frey & Bohnet, 1993). Direct democracy as practiced in Switzerland issues members of the public with the power to demand a deliberative referendum which provides a purposeful institutional design. Members of the public are also provided with the power to vote out elected public leaders out of their elected posts before the expiry of their term.
Among the major issues that the modern direct democracy in Switzerland have adhered to is in the use of internet and other communication technologies. Such a sector is addressed in the e-democracy under the constitutional terms of electronic direct democracy. Still, in the internet use policies on the country’s governance, the state has implemented the concept of open source governance which makes the use of free software movement principles to enhance the governance of the citizens. This approach allows all the members of the public in the government’s policy-making processes directly without limitations and restrictions.
However, it is noted that most of the regions in Switzerland adopt the Swiss Confederation, which is a form of semi-direct democracy. This is considered to be a form of representative democracy which depicts a strong attribute to the instruments of direct democracy. Direct democracy formation through a referendum in Switzerland presents fundamental complementation of the structure of the federal government (Papadopoulos, 2001). The country has managed to establish a system governed by the instruments of direct democracy which implemented at the municipalities, cantons, and federal state levels. Through this system, citizens are provided by the constitution more power in policy decision-making than the elected representatives. The power of the citizens is expressed in their ability to demand constitutional changes or optional referendum which is determined by the federal and cantonal parliament. Decisions concerning mandatory or optional referendum in Switzerland are usually made longer than any other country. For instance, the constitutional amendment at any political level requires a longer process involving voting of the Swiss electorate and cantons.
On the other side, the Referendum in the United Kingdom is not considered a major tool for direct democracy as it is in other countries. The recently conducted referendum in the UK is the Scottish Independence referendum. The United Kingdom also conducted a referendum for EU membership in 2007. In the United Kingdom, referendums are conducted at a national, regional, or local level to aid in making critical policy decisions. Different ...