Hardly a state offers such developed rights of codetermination to its citizens. The long democratic tradition, the comparatively small size of the country and its population, a high literacy rate and various media offers are decisive for the functioning of this special form of government.
Federal Chancellery, Switzerland
Using recent interview data from 6000 residents of Switzerland, we show that individuals are ceteris paribus happier, the better developed the institutions of direct democracy are in their area of residence.
Bruno Frey and Alois Stutzer, “Happiness, Economy and Institutions”, Economic Journal 110 (466), 2000, p. 918.
瑞士公投概況表(2006至今)刊出後,有位讀者反應,希望知道瑞士人如何寫公投提案主文。要找這類實例,最好直接查瑞士官方文件;問題是,相關資料鮮少完整地譯成英文,台灣的有心人大多不得其門而入。有鑑於此,繼前回的公投標題翻譯工作後,我在此進一步透過兩場公投的官方資料來介紹瑞士人如何表述公投案,並節譯其中一本公投說明書。
透過瑞士政府發給每位公民的這款小冊子,我們雖遠在台灣,還是可以在某種程度上透視他們那舉世聞名的直接民主機制如何運作。本文的標題「我們投票決定什麼」源自這種小冊子內文的第一行字。對瑞士體制的認識有助於破解某些在台灣造成「我們不能投票或投票卻什麼也決定不了」的觀念謬誤。
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