Vegan Denied Passport For Being "Annoying"

[SueEllen]

I meant the country, not the canal.

And I was thinking of the residents..

[Mordac]

Swiss town denies passport to vegan anti-cowbell campaigner 'for being annoying' | The Independent

Good to see the Swiss taking a firm line with this nonsense

Good to see the Swiss give locals a vote on this sort of thing, I would welcome that kind of democracy here.

[NotAllThere]

Good to see the Swiss give locals a vote on this sort of thing, I would welcome that kind of democracy here.

The Swiss don't "give locals a vote". Sovereignty in Switzerland lies with the communities. That can be an entire city, a town, or a village of a few people. When you become a citizen here, it's not Switzerland that grants it (though you need approval from the federal and cantonal authorities), it's the community. You become a citizen of that community, which then entitles you to a Swiss passport. The community is then responsible for your social care should you fall on hard times.

The communities have given up some of their powers to the cantonal level (in fact this is where most of the real power lies). Cantons have given some of their powers to the federal government. It's easy to see how it works via the tax split. The canton collects the taxes, and 40% goes to the community, 40% to the canton and 20% to the federal government.

Not all communities give their citizens a say in who can naturalise. For some it's just a box-ticking exercise, approved by a committee - 12 years residence, no criminal record, no unpaid debt, likely to be able to support themselves, speaks the local official language, pays (or likely to, for students) taxes, agrees with Swiss law and custom, doesn't withdraw into a ghetto of their fellow nationals.