162

The world’s largest democracy is collapsing before our eyes (www.vox.com)

submitted 1 year ago by badbrainstorm@lemmy.ml to c/worldnews@lemmy.ml

192 comments fedilink hide all child comments

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] BeatNik@kbin.social 41 points 1 year ago

Isn't democracy collapsing everywhere? The USA's electoral voting system means democracy doesn't exist. A vote in California is worth 27% of a vote in Wyoming in terms of representation. Add on blatant gerrymandering and you've got a rigged system.

The UK has introduced voter ID laws for a problem that never existed in the past. The UK has also had multiple unelected prime ministers due to the way that the parliamentary system works.

Democracy is on the wane everywhere.

[-] curiosityLynx@kbin.social 15 points 1 year ago

Haven't seen any indication of it being in danger in Switzerland. But we have proportional voting rather than first past the post and referenda are common.

[-] SheeEttin@lemmy.world -4 points 1 year ago

Switzerland is also a small and relatively homogenous community. That helps too.

[-] Spzi@lemmy.click 10 points 1 year ago

relatively homogenous

Some may be surprised by the cultural diversity this rather small country packs:

It has four main linguistic and cultural regions: German, French, Italian and Romansh. Although most Swiss are German-speaking, national identity is fairly cohesive, being rooted in a common historical background, shared values such as federalism and direct democracy,[15][page needed] and Alpine symbolism.[16][17] Swiss identity transcends language, ethnicity, and religion, leading to Switzerland being described as a Willensnation ("nation of volition") rather than a nation state.[18]

Due to its linguistic diversity, Switzerland is known by multiple native names: Schweiz [ˈʃvaɪts] (German);[f][g] Suisse [sɥis(ə)] (French); Svizzera [ˈzvittsera] (Italian); and Svizra [ˈʒviːtsrɐ, ˈʒviːtsʁɐ] (Romansh).[h] On coins and stamps, the Latin name, Confoederatio Helvetica — frequently shortened to "Helvetia" — is used instead of the spoken languages.

I also think the local traditions differentiating down to single villages are more important and alive than in other countries.

But yes, "national identity is fairly cohesive", maybe you meant that.