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...... Direct Democracy

This element in Switzerlands fundamental policy issues allows the people to decide

directly what laws or constitutional changes they want (MySwitzerland 2009). This is done through peoples initiatives and referendums. They express themselves by voting several times a year on policy issues at the federal, cantonal and communal levels. Communes organize elections by secret ballot and automatically register all citizens of voting age in their respective jurisdiction. The ballots and the information about a proposed law are mailed to the voters. The information includes the governments position on the proposed law and a summary of arguments for and against the proposed law. Most of the voters cast their vote by mail. Voting by internet and mobile phone has been, however, recently initiated on a local level (MySwitzerland)
Peoples initiatives were introduced in 1891 (MySwitzerland 2009). A peoples initiative introduces amendments to the constitution. An amendment can be forced by 100,000 citizen signatures and validated by the community within an 18-month period. It may involve individual items or parts of the constitution or the constitution as a whole. Before a peoples initiative is presented for popular vote, the parliament makes known its position to accept or decline the

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