Abstract
Switzerland has had more referendums related to Europe than any other country. These matter qualitatively because EU relations are sensitive and central to Swiss politics and also raise questions about direct democracy. They also have implications for Europe but have rarely been studied. Remedying this requires examining the evolution of Swiss EU policy since referendums have played a crucial part in its changing evolution. 17 referendums are then analysed, covering the three forms of constitutionally recognized votations. Their subjects include matters directly related to EU relations, other issues indirectly affecting European policy and rules on direct democracy. All are examined for their effects, origins, results and significance, along with the arguments used in the closely fought campaigns. They divide into four phases, reflecting the evolution of Swiss–EU relations and reveal changing patterns of influence with Euroscepticism now being challenged by newer forces. Critical questions remain to be decided.
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Notes
- 1.
The term referendum can be misleading in the Swiss context because there it can often mean only specific kinds of direct democratic vote, thus excluding initiatives and some other forms. As a result, this chapter follows the lead of the late Christopher Hughes, the doyen of British students of Swiss politics, and uses the French term votation (the equivalents being votazione in Italian and Abstimmung in German) to mean any kind of public decision-making in Switzerland.
- 2.
Die Neue Eisenbahn-Alpentransversale/Nouvelle ligne ferroviaire à travers les Alpes.
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Church, C. (2021). Swiss Votes on Europe. In: Smith, J. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of European Referendums . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55803-1_29
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