Swiss referendums, 2016

Switzerland
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Switzerland
Constitution Human rights
Federal Council Members (by seniority) Doris Leuthard Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf Ueli Maurer Didier Burkhalter Simonetta Sommaruga (President) Johann Schneider-Ammann (Vice President) Alain Berset Federal Chancellor Corina Casanova Federal administration
Federal Assembly Council of States (members) National Council (members) Political parties
Elections Voting Recent elections Federal: 2003 2007 2011 Referenda Mandatory Optional Popular initiative
Federal courts Federal Supreme Court Federal Criminal Court Federal Administrative Court
Foreign relations European Union
Administrative divisions Cantons Municipalities
Other countries Atlas Politics portal

Several referendums will be held in Switzerland during 2016, one of which involves the proposal to introduce a basic income.

Basic income referendum

Background

The discussion about basic income in Switzerland began in the 1980s. At first it was mostly academics who participated in the debate, such as sociologists who saw the potential to alleviate poverty better than the current system. But there was no major public debate, neither in the 1980s nor the 1990s. In the early 2000s, however, things were slowly changing due to a spill-over from the German debate. Two basic income organizations were formed, "Initiative Grundeinkommen" and BIEN-Switzerland, and one Attac-group also became advocates. These organizations had some success, including some articles in national newspapers.^[1] The petition calling for a referendum on basic income as a constitutional right was started in April 2012. After six months 42,000 people had signed, and by April 2013 there were approximately 70,000 signatures.^[2] By October 2013 more than 130,000 citizens had signed, meaning a referendum on the issue had to be held. Publicity included a truck filled with eight million coins emptying the money in front of the Federal Palace in Bern.^[3] The level proposed is 2,500 Swiss francs per month.^[3]

References

Elections and referendums in Switzerland Parliamentary elections 1848 1851 1854 1857 1860 1863 1866 1869 1872 1875 1878 1881 1884 1887 1890 1893 1896 1899 1902 1905 1908 1911 1914 1917 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1935 1939 1943 1947 1951 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Referendums 1798 1802 1848 1866 1872 1874 1875 1876 1877 1879 1880 1882 1884 1885 1887 1889 1890 1891 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1900 1902 1903 1905 1906 1907 1908 1910 1912 1913 1914 1915 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016