The portion of the Swiss Federal Constitution labelled “Title 4” is displayed in its entirety below because this is what makes a Constitution democratic. The current population of Switzerland is 7 million.

Title 4: People and Cantons

Chapter 1: General Provisions

Art. 136 Political Rights

  1. All Swiss citizens who are 18 years or older, and are not under guardianship because of mental illness or weakness, shall have political rights in federal matters. All shall have the same political rights and obligations.
  2. They may participate in elections to the House of Representatives and in federal elections, and may launch and sign popular initiatives and referendums in federal matters.

Art. 137 Political Parties

The political parties shall contribute to the forming of the opinion and the will of the People.

Chapter 2: Initiative and Referendum

Art. 138 Popular Initiative for Total Revision of the Federal Constitution

  1. 100,000 citizens entitled to vote may propose a total revision of the Federal Constitution.
  2. This proposal shall be submitted to the vote of the People for its approval.

Art. 139 Popular Initiative for Partial Revision of the Federal Constitution

  1. 100,000 citizens entitled to vote may propose a partial revision of the Federal Constitution.
  2. The popular initiative for a partial revision of the Federal Constitution may be in the form of a general suggestion or a formulated draft Federal Constitution.
  3. If an initiative does not respect the principle of unity of form, the principle of unity of subject matter, or mandatory rules of international law, the Federal Parliament shall declare the initiative invalid, in whole or in part.
  4. If the Federal Parliament approves an initiative in the form of a general suggestion, it shall prepare a partial revision in the sense of the initiative, and submit it to the vote of the people and the Cantons. If it rejects the initiative, it shall submit it to the vote of the People; the People shall decide whether the initiative should be followed. If the People approves the initiative, the Federal Parliament shall formulate a corresponding draft.
  5. An initiative in the form of a formulated draft shall be submitted to the vote of the People and the Cantons. The Federal Parliament shall recommend its approval or its rejection. If it recommends its rejection, it may submit its own counter-draft.
  6. The People and the Cantons shall vote simultaneously on the initiative and the counter-draft. The voters may approve both drafts. They may indicate which draft they prefer, should both be approved; should one of the drafts obtain the majority of the People’s votes and the other the majority of the votes of the Cantons, neither of them shall come into force.

Art. 140 Mandatory Referendum

  1. The following shall be submitted to the vote of the People and the Cantons:
    1. Revisions of the Federal Constitution;
    2. The entry into organizations for collective security or into supranational communities;
    3. Federal Statutes declared urgent which have no constitutional basis and whose validity exceeds one year; such Federal Statutes must be submitted to the vote within one year after their adoption by the Federal Parliament.
  2. The following shall be submitted to the vote of the People:
    1. Popular initiatives for total revision of the Federal Constitution;
    2. Popular initiatives for partial revision of the Federal Constitution in the form of a general suggestion which were rejected by the Federal Parliament;
    3. The question whether a total revision of the Constitution should be carried out if both Chambers disagree.

Art. 141 Optional Referendum

1.      The following are submitted to the vote of the People at the request of 50,000 citizens entitled to vote, or of eight Cantons:

    1. Federal Statutes;
    2. Federal Statutes declared urgent with a validity exceeding one year;
    3. Federal decrees to the extent the Constitution or the statute foresee this;
    4. International treaties which:

                                                              i.      are of unlimited duration and may not be terminated;

                                                             ii.      provide for the entry into an international organization;

                                                           iii.      involve a multilateral unification of law.

  1. The Federal Parliament may submit further international treaties to optional referendum.

Art. 142 Required Majorities

1.      Proposals submitted to the vote of the People shall be accepted if the majority of those voting approves them.

  1. Proposals submitted to the vote of the People and the Cantons shall be accepted if the majority of those voting and the majority of the Cantons approve them.
  2. The result of a popular vote in a Canton determines the vote of that Canton.
  3. The Cantons of Obwald, Nidwald, Basel City, Basel Land, Appenzell Outer Rhodes and Appenzell Inner Rhodes have each one half of a cantonal vote.

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Shown below is the crucial Article that defines the Federal Parliament as “Subject to the rights of the People and the Cantons”.

This is of vital importance in a Democratic Constitution, because it enshrines the absolute and inalienable Sovereignty of the People over any institutions that are created by them under their Democratic Constitution:

Title 5: Federal Authorities

Chapter 2: Federal Parliament

Section 1: Organisation

Art. 148 Status

  1. Subject to the rights of the People and the Cantons, the Federal Parliament is the highest authority of the Confederation.
  2. It has two Chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate; which have equal powers.

 

Click here to reference the entire Swiss Federal Constitution on line.

 

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