In many Swiss municipalities, voters gather in local assemblies to decide on community matters themselves instead of leaving them to parliaments of elected officials. How does the system work? Coming together to decide on political issues that affect your daily life – that sounds about as close to direct democracy as it gets. “Assembly democracy is generally regarded as not only the oldest, but also the most directly democratic way to organise a community,” says political scientist Philippe Rochat. The underlying idea is that citizens meet one another as equals. Almost half of the voters in Switzerland can experience this hands-on form of direct democracy because they live in one of the more than 1,650 municipalities where an assembly of citizens takes decisions instead of an elected local parliament. Assembly democracy in villages and towns From small villages of only a few dozen people to the town of Rapperswil-Jona with nearly 30,000 residents, Swiss communities put their faith ...
