On January 20, like more than a million of my fellow citizens, I journeyed to the core of Washington, DC to witness the inauguration of President Barack Obama.  Unfortunately, the color of my ticket meant I would spend that frigid morning on a massive line in the Third Street Tunnel of I-395 -- the now-infamous "Purple Tunnel of Doom."

The crowd's initial excitement and esprit gave way to anxiety and confusion as the historic hour approached. 9 o'clock... 10 o'clock... 10:30... the time ticked by, and the line barely budged.  Finally, a once-orderly double- or triple-file queue became a mass of people streaming toward daylight-only to find that the Purple Gate had apparently been closed for hours, shutting out thousands of ticketed spectators.

I still do not know what exactly went wrong that day.  Unmistakable, however, were the looks of disappointment and dismay on the faces that streaked by as I ran to catch Obama's speech on TV in a nearby bar.  Although the occupants of the tunnel were a diverse lot, many were young people who had worked and volunteered for the Obama campaign and were therefore especially eager to witness the fruits of their labor.  It was sadly ironic that these Millennials -- the rising under-25 generation that proved so integral to Obama's electoral success and the groundbreaking nature of his campaign-were the ones being shut out.

American direct democracy was adopted from Switzerland, which has had the initiative, referendum and the recall since the 19th century (and a tradition of direct democratic governance, through cantons, that is centuries old).

One of the many things that the Swiss have put to a vote is applications for citizenship. Such applications are voted upon directly at the local level. (Literally, if you apply for citizenship, you show up at what amounts to a town meeting and they make the decision right there). But the supreme court in Switzerland blocked such votes five years ago. In response, the conservative People's Party decided to sponsor a ballot initiative to reverse that decision and reinstate the local votes. One problem with the initiative is that it would not allow for appeals of citizenship decisions; the previous system allowed such appeals.

The result? This weekend, the Swiss voted the initiative down.