Another referendum in a (sometimes) sensible country

[darmstadt]

Swiss voters have rejected a proposal to give Swiss law precedence over international law and treaties, according to results coming in from a national referendum.
...
The rejection of the sovereignty proposal is a major blow for the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP), which put it forward

Swiss vote no in sovereignty referendum - BBC News

[NotAllThere]

It was put forward by the rightwing, populist Swiss People's Party. If it had gone through, it would have meant that any initiative (constitution changing referendum) would have had to be implemented immediately, without consideration for existing treaties.

Since the current system allows for treaty changes to be renegotiated if the populace demand it, it absolutely wasn't needed. It was a bit like if after the Brexit Refendum, we'd immediately have had a hard brexit as the EU/UK treaties all became null and void.

It was not only defeated in the popular vote, but each canton also rejected it. Typically, the SVP whined about the "against" interests having unlimited funds and project fear.

[Bean]

Sooooo, are referendums are good now, or is it just that this one went 'the way it's supposed to' ?

[meridian]

Sooooo, are referendums are good now, or is it just that this one went 'the way it's supposed to' ?

Welcome back Bean, are the school holidays starting already?

Perhaps you should investigate the way that Referendums are held in other countries (CH, IE, etc), especially the difference in information and what the result of the referendums in those countries would apply to local laws.

[AtW]

Sooooo, are referendums are good now, or is it just that this one went 'the way it's supposed to' ?

Referendums are awesome, but only when they run on regular basis AND serious decisions should require more than simple majority.

[meridian]

Referendums are awesome, but only when they run on regular basis AND serious decisions should require more than simple majority.

It’s better when certainty is given to the outcome, and when this certainty is debated in a meaningful way beforehand.

Take the Irish vote on abortion. Highly emotive, splitting opinions in families, etc. The proposed draft changes to the legislation were published well before the referendum. This wasn’t a “Do you want abortion repealed yes/no” vote, they knew exactly what they were voting for.

[BlasterBates]

Sooooo, are referendums are good now, or is it just that this one went 'the way it's supposed to' ?

Referendums are good, presumably you would be supportive of a new referendum on May's deal.

[BlasterBates]

Switzerland, a slave state of the EU

I find it interesting that Switzerland held up as a great example of a country outside the EU, is now considered to be a "slave" state.

Nigel Farage and others frequently mentioned Switzerland.

Britain is now heading to be like Switzerland as we knew it always would, a "slave" state. You get what you vote for.

[NotAllThere]

Sooooo, are referendums are good now, or is it just that this one went 'the way it's supposed to' ?

Referendums were never bad, so your question is irrelevant.

Since my daughters recently became Swiss, they voted in this one. Along with the voting papers, came a booklet that detailed the reasons for voting for or against, together with information about the proportion of the government that were for or against. There's also partisan websites with the arguments by the various interested parties. The Swiss tend to be fairly diligent about educating themselves concerning the issues they're voting on, and they're usually reluctant to change the status quo. However, unlike the UK, most voters feel the Swiss government do represent them, since the political setup is far more collaborative and participatory, and there's plenty of local power - this means it is very unlikely you'll get any kind of protest vote.

[original PM]

Sooooo, are referendums are good now, or is it just that this one went 'the way it's supposed to' ?

Despite what everyone is saying.

Exactly this - the people on the board agree with this outcome so it is good.

Had the people on the board not agreed with the outcome it would be bad and anyone who disagrees will be a cretin.

Still always good to have honest open unbiased discussion.