Democracies in Different Countries |
| Voting and Swiss history.
You know in Switzerland, the public votes their Direct Democracy on almost everything, sometimes they vote every other week. The Swiss vote on building roads with round-a-bouts to eliminate most traffic lights, designing bridges and tunnels going up, down, and around, but seldom straight, all over this little country with 8 million people in the middle of Europe. In America they build roads too, but there they blast the mountains clear away to make the highways as straight as possible for it's more than 300 million people to drive as safe as possible. The Swiss have been voting in every town many times a year about everything for their Democracy since the year 1293. Switzerland is also known as "Confoederatio Helvetica", therefore the abbreviation CH. "Confoederatio" stands for "confederation," "Helvetica" derives from the Latin word "Helvetier", the name of the people who lived in the area which later became Switzerland. |
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| NOW YOU THINK ABOUT IT . . . | ||
Did you ever vote for something in your family or in your country? Do you know how old you have to be to vote? When you grow up, will you help to count the votes? Today the United States of America has 50 states, and some territories - do you know how many? |
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| 1786 to 2000 In America, the people vote, too. Here public votes for the politicians, and then the politicians vote for the laws that make this republic work as a “representive” democracy. Every fourth year, the public votes for a president. TV and radios news shows used to announce the winner early on the same day the vote was cast. But, you remember, I told you that strange things were happening all over the world just before the year 2000, the turnover to the first year of the new millennium! And so it was with the 1999 presidential election in the USA, the same year I heard the story of Isidor. That year they couldn’t count the votes in Florida and after six weeks the Supreme Court “picked” the president. That had never happened before! Later in the spring of 2000, the American politicians in Washington, belonging to both the “democrat donkeys” and the “republican elephants,” voted to never allow radio and TV stations announce the presidential winners until most people have voted — all across this large country — so no-one could influence or confuse the voters. And that also had never happened before! |
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| SWITZERLAND - 1291 to today | ||
| Since the Year 1293 the Swiss have been voting in every town many times a year about everything for their ‘Direct Democracy' which is over 700 years old. Democratic Confederation Helvetica.... In Switzerland it is said that in the year 1291, Melchior (Wilhelm Tell-as depicted in a play) shot an arrow clear through an apple and freed his son and his people from their ruling tyrants. After that, he and his friends from the Kantons (States) Uri, Schwiiz, and Unterwalden swore an oath to govern themselves and make democratic laws of their own forever! Swiss federal elections vote for The Bundesrat (rat-council) of seven people and one extra). The council then chooses one person from amongst themselves to preside over the people for peace, freedom, and justice in their national government for one year. After one year, they vote again and choose another Bundespresident. The Bundespresident governs over the meetings and assures that there will be a concensus for every decicion they make. |
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| Take a look at the original one page document which established the union of the first three cantons in 1291, and here is a list of when the rest joined. | ||
