Beyond the US midterms: The Swiss answer to congressional gridlock

[Scott]

 

It's notoriously hard to get new laws passed in the US and few believe the looming election reshaping Congress will solve that. Could the Swiss "people power" model help?

The US political system seems designed to create gridlock. The two chambers of Congress are frequently controlled by different parties.

The Senate has longstanding procedures that allow the minority party there to block most major legislation that doesn't have the support of at least 60 of the 100 senators.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63387905

[thaibeachlovers]

As, IMO, governments seem to make life more difficult with some of the laws they do pass, I'd be quite happy if they didn't pass any laws other than those with at least 90% votes.

 

IMO the Swiss come closest to real democracy with their requirements for referendums on many things.

[pegman]

Rich Americans would never agree to a political system where buying politicians would have little effect. Can you imagine the little people passing a law that forced corporations to pay their far share of taxes? Can't have  that.

[Swiss1960]

5 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

As, IMO, governments seem to make life more difficult with some of the laws they do pass, I'd be quite happy if they didn't pass any laws other than those with at least 90% votes.

 

IMO the Swiss come closest to real democracy with their requirements for referendums on many things.

The referendums in Switzerland are only a part of the system.

The other main part is that governments in Switzerkand (on a national and state level) consist of ministers of several political parties that actually work together to find solutions.

The Swiss government consists of 7 ministers (secretarys in the US) from the 5 biggest political parties. Each year, one of them will be President, but only as Primus inter Pares (first among equals). It is their job to jointly find the best solutions for a majority of the population and not only for their political basis.