Twenty-First Century Populism: The Spectre of Western European ...

108 Twenty-First Century Populism
referendum] ... At the same time the Swiss can call initiatives, calling for
constitutional changes ... if they can collect 100,000 signatures [the
initiative].
Direct democracy thus ‘provides efficient instruments to exert continuous
pressure on policy making of the established political parties’ (Skenderovic,
2001: 5).
Let us look at ‘initiatives’ for a moment. It is true that they are rarely passed
when put to voters − since their introduction, their average success rate is a
modest 10 per cent. And yet their importance should not be underestimated.
First, more of them have proved successful in recent years (Linder, 2003b;
Trechsel, 2003: 481) and, more generally, it is becoming less common for voters
to ‘simply’ follow the lead of the government, come what may (Kriesi,
2006). Second, their very existence is in itself a constant reminder of who the
ultimate sovereign really is, especially given that, unlike Italy (where a referendum
can only repeal legislation ex-post), the initiative empowers voters to
do much more than simply say ‘no’. Third, honourable defeats still help considerably
in pushing certain themes to the top of the political agenda and in
enabling what are sometimes small groups and organizations to enjoy the
limelight, attract supporters and increase their influence. This is why ‘intense’
minorities that launch (or become involved with) initiatives and optional
referendums ‘invest in the defence of their cause independently of their
chances of success’ (Kriesi, 2006: 611). Fourth, sometimes initiatives only fail
(or else are withdrawn before being put to the vote) for the very reason that
parliament has already been pressurized to act on a disputed issue, either by
introducing new legislation or by putting a ‘counter-project’ to the people
that addresses some of the worries informing the original proposal. A proof
of the effectiveness of the tools of direct democracy is the fact that the government,
despite often having it its own way (Trechsel, 2003: 495), has sometimes
failed to win over citizens and prevail precisely in those referendums
on issues particularly dear to populists: tax ation, immigration policy and
relationships with international bodies. Consultation and dialogue normally
work in avoiding embarrassment for the government; however, on certain
issues voters are not always willing to compromise.
Besides offering great opportunities to lobbies and campaigning organizations,
direct democracy also exerts important effects on the political system.
Such is its disruptive potential (especially in a divided country like
Switzerland) that power sharing and negotiation become absolute necessities
(e.g. Neidhart, 1970). As Hanspeter Kriesi comments: ‘By forcing all the
participants at every stage in the decision-making process to anticipate a
possible popular veto at its very end ... [referendums] ... have stimulated
the integration into the decision-making process of all powerful interestassociations
capable of launching a referendum and/or winning a popular
vote’ (2005: 23).