Fascism rests on a two-part confidence trick. First, a leader claims to embody the will of the people. Then they argue that only by being granted sweeping powers can that be realised. Having grown up in Switzerland, I find it easy to see through this trick. That is because the policies championed by the far right rarely pass the referendum test.
Switzerland is hardly a nation of progressives. Leftwing parties won just 29% of the vote in the most recent national elections. Women gained the right to vote only in 1971. The asylum law is one of Europe’s toughest. That, too, is the legacy of direct democracy.
Yet, most often, the country’s tradition of putting decisions out to referendum exposes how, despite dominating social media and the press amplifying its positions, the far right thrives on imagined majorities.
Please find the full opinion article by Joseph de Weck here.
