The Home of William Tell

Joe Mathews — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 17:06:00 -0400

if Swiss direct democracy has a Mt. Olympus, this may be it. Altdorf, where I'm spending the night, is the capital of the tiny canton -- that's what the Swiss call their states -- of Uri, in the center of the country. It's also the hometown of William Tell, Swiss hero. One caveat: It's not a mountain really. Altdorf is in a narrow valley, with steep, sometimes sheer moutains on each side. It put me in mind of the Yosemite Valley.

This may be the most direct democratic part of the world's most advanced direct democracy. Uri has just 35,000 people, 25,000 of them eligible to vote. It was one of the original three Swiss cantons, dating to 1291. (Tell, in a popular founding myth that has little historical authenticity, shot the Austrian overlord of Uri with a crossbow in 1307). As we arrived in town, election returns showed a flat tax referendum passing at the ballot, along with another measure. Next, the canton's voters will consider an initaitive to lower the voting age to 16. (A nearby Canton has moved to do the same). The idea was advanced by a group of young socialists here, but Canton justice minister Heidi Z'graggen, when I asked her why the canton would consider such a change, replied, "Why not?" She also suggested that such a measure might "balance" a voting population that skews old. This all came in an exchange with myself and other reporters during which the minister, a Christian Democrat, described herself as "very conservative." The former California state senator, John Vasconcellos, was mocked for his liberalism when he pushed similar legislation in Sacramento.

This place makes direct democracy so easy that there aren't paid signature gatherers or other political pros (Consultants and paid gatherers are very much present in more populous areas such as Bern and Zurich). It takes just 450 signatures to qualify a referendum for the ballot here, and 600 signatures to qualify an initaitive.

That's all for now. More tomorrow when I head to the Swiss federal capital, Bern.