The EU should take inspiration from Switzerland in its attempts to increase democratic legitimacy. | EUROPP<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joseph Lacey explains why the EU should follow the Swiss example: Three major factors help to explain how Switzerland is possible. First, there are national elections and nationally-held referendums connected to the workings of a national government. Second, though national elections only take place every five years, referendums are far more frequent. On average, usually … <\/p>\n
Continue reading “The EU should take inspiration from Switzerland in its attempts to increase democratic legitimacy | EUROPP”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,33],"tags":[996,1304,2070,3317],"class_list":["post-8654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-big-picture","category-uk-europe-countries-regions","tag-democracy","tag-european-union","tag-language-divide","tag-switzerland"],"yoast_head":"\nThe EU should take inspiration from Switzerland in its attempts to increase democratic legitimacy | EUROPP - the patient investor<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The EU should take inspiration from Switzerland in its attempts to increase democratic legitimacy | EUROPP - the patient investor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Joseph Lacey explains why the EU should follow the Swiss example: Three major factors help to explain how Switzerland is possible. First, there are national elections and nationally-held referendums connected to the workings of a national government. Second, though national elections only take place every five years, referendums are far more frequent. On average, usually … Continue reading "The EU should take inspiration from Switzerland in its attempts to increase democratic legitimacy | EUROPP"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/22\/the-eu-should-take-inspiration-from-switzerland-in-its-attempts-to-increase-democratic-legitimacy-europp\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"the patient investor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=61572934660810\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-10-22T08:30:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ColinTwiggs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ColinTwiggs\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/22\/the-eu-should-take-inspiration-from-switzerland-in-its-attempts-to-increase-democratic-legitimacy-europp\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/22\/the-eu-should-take-inspiration-from-switzerland-in-its-attempts-to-increase-democratic-legitimacy-europp\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ColinTwiggs\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/cb072791ac83e8bae585007c133d54a5\"},\"headline\":\"The EU should take inspiration from Switzerland in its attempts to increase democratic legitimacy | EUROPP\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-10-22T08:30:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/22\/the-eu-should-take-inspiration-from-switzerland-in-its-attempts-to-increase-democratic-legitimacy-europp\/\"},\"wordCount\":166,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Democracy\",\"European Union\",\"language-divide\",\"Switzerland\"],\"articleSection\":[\"The Big Picture\",\"UK & Europe\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/22\/the-eu-should-take-inspiration-from-switzerland-in-its-attempts-to-increase-democratic-legitimacy-europp\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/22\/the-eu-should-take-inspiration-from-switzerland-in-its-attempts-to-increase-democratic-legitimacy-europp\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/22\/the-eu-should-take-inspiration-from-switzerland-in-its-attempts-to-increase-democratic-legitimacy-europp\/\",\"name\":\"The EU should take inspiration from Switzerland in its attempts to increase democratic legitimacy | EUROPP - the patient investor\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-10-22T08:30:38+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/22\/the-eu-should-take-inspiration-from-switzerland-in-its-attempts-to-increase-democratic-legitimacy-europp\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/22\/the-eu-should-take-inspiration-from-switzerland-in-its-attempts-to-increase-democratic-legitimacy-europp\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/22\/the-eu-should-take-inspiration-from-switzerland-in-its-attempts-to-increase-democratic-legitimacy-europp\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The EU should take inspiration from Switzerland in its attempts to increase democratic legitimacy | EUROPP\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/\",\"name\":\"The Patient Investor\",\"description\":\"Smart. Strategic. Unfiltered. \",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Patient Investor Pty Ltd\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thepatientinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/cropped-cropped-patience-bg-1-inverted-400x400-1.png?fit=250%2C250&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thepatientinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/cropped-cropped-patience-bg-1-inverted-400x400-1.png?fit=250%2C250&ssl=1\",\"width\":250,\"height\":250,\"caption\":\"The Patient Investor Pty Ltd\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=61572934660810\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/colin_thepatientinvestor\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/cb072791ac83e8bae585007c133d54a5\",\"name\":\"ColinTwiggs\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/876c4d990bb2af282291d5f3ff81533c6deccc0c607846086647ca3272fac0ca?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/876c4d990bb2af282291d5f3ff81533c6deccc0c607846086647ca3272fac0ca?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/876c4d990bb2af282291d5f3ff81533c6deccc0c607846086647ca3272fac0ca?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"ColinTwiggs\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/author\/colin58s\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The EU should take inspiration from Switzerland in its attempts to increase democratic legitimacy | EUROPP - the patient investor","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The EU should take inspiration from Switzerland in its attempts to increase democratic legitimacy | EUROPP - the patient investor","og_description":"Joseph Lacey explains why the EU should follow the Swiss example: Three major factors help to explain how Switzerland is possible. First, there are national elections and nationally-held referendums connected to the workings of a national government. Second, though national elections only take place every five years, referendums are far more frequent. On average, usually … Continue reading \"The EU should take inspiration from Switzerland in its attempts to increase democratic legitimacy | EUROPP\"","og_url":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/22\/the-eu-should-take-inspiration-from-switzerland-in-its-attempts-to-increase-democratic-legitimacy-europp\/","og_site_name":"the patient investor","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=61572934660810","article_published_time":"2013-10-22T08:30:38+00:00","author":"ColinTwiggs","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"ColinTwiggs","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/22\/the-eu-should-take-inspiration-from-switzerland-in-its-attempts-to-increase-democratic-legitimacy-europp\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/22\/the-eu-should-take-inspiration-from-switzerland-in-its-attempts-to-increase-democratic-legitimacy-europp\/"},"author":{"name":"ColinTwiggs","@id":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/cb072791ac83e8bae585007c133d54a5"},"headline":"The EU should take inspiration from Switzerland in its attempts to increase democratic legitimacy | EUROPP","datePublished":"2013-10-22T08:30:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/22\/the-eu-should-take-inspiration-from-switzerland-in-its-attempts-to-increase-democratic-legitimacy-europp\/"},"wordCount":166,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["Democracy","European Union","language-divide","Switzerland"],"articleSection":["The Big Picture","UK & Europe"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/22\/the-eu-should-take-inspiration-from-switzerland-in-its-attempts-to-increase-democratic-legitimacy-europp\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/22\/the-eu-should-take-inspiration-from-switzerland-in-its-attempts-to-increase-democratic-legitimacy-europp\/","url":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/22\/the-eu-should-take-inspiration-from-switzerland-in-its-attempts-to-increase-democratic-legitimacy-europp\/","name":"The EU should take inspiration from Switzerland in its attempts to increase democratic legitimacy | EUROPP - the patient investor","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-10-22T08:30:38+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/22\/the-eu-should-take-inspiration-from-switzerland-in-its-attempts-to-increase-democratic-legitimacy-europp\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/22\/the-eu-should-take-inspiration-from-switzerland-in-its-attempts-to-increase-democratic-legitimacy-europp\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/22\/the-eu-should-take-inspiration-from-switzerland-in-its-attempts-to-increase-democratic-legitimacy-europp\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The EU should take inspiration from Switzerland in its attempts to increase democratic legitimacy | EUROPP"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/","name":"The Patient Investor","description":"Smart. Strategic. Unfiltered. ","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/#organization","name":"The Patient Investor Pty Ltd","url":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thepatientinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/cropped-cropped-patience-bg-1-inverted-400x400-1.png?fit=250%2C250&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thepatientinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/cropped-cropped-patience-bg-1-inverted-400x400-1.png?fit=250%2C250&ssl=1","width":250,"height":250,"caption":"The Patient Investor Pty Ltd"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=61572934660810","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/colin_thepatientinvestor"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/cb072791ac83e8bae585007c133d54a5","name":"ColinTwiggs","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/876c4d990bb2af282291d5f3ff81533c6deccc0c607846086647ca3272fac0ca?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/876c4d990bb2af282291d5f3ff81533c6deccc0c607846086647ca3272fac0ca?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/876c4d990bb2af282291d5f3ff81533c6deccc0c607846086647ca3272fac0ca?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"ColinTwiggs"},"url":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/author\/colin58s\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9tQ4n-2fA","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3257,"url":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/2012\/01\/08\/direct-democracy-and-economics\/","url_meta":{"origin":8654,"position":0},"title":"Direct Democracy and Economics","author":"ColinTwiggs","date":"January 8, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Reproduced with kind permission from Steven Spadijer at Australian National University: What is Direct Democracy? Direct Democracy allows a prescribed number of citizens\u2019 to veto an existing law or enact a constitutional amendment or statute independent of the legislature at a referendum. Today, these procedures complement the day-to-day representative government\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Big Picture"","block_context":{"text":"The Big Picture","link":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/category\/the-big-picture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1483,"url":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/2011\/10\/23\/far-right-party-leads-in-swiss-vote-wsj-com\/","url_meta":{"origin":8654,"position":1},"title":"Far-Right Party Leads in Swiss Vote – WSJ.com","author":"ColinTwiggs","date":"October 23, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Swiss voters went to the polls to elect a new parliament Sunday, the composition of which will help determine the makeup of the seven-member Federal Council in December. Swiss politics are marked by a very weak executive and a strong tradition of consensus among the political parties. The three largest\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Big Picture"","block_context":{"text":"The Big Picture","link":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/category\/the-big-picture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6630,"url":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/2013\/02\/05\/immigrants-in-switzerland-are-far-more-likely-to-have-their-application-for-citizenship-rejected-if-the-decision-is-made-using-a-referendum-europp\/","url_meta":{"origin":8654,"position":2},"title":"Immigrants in Switzerland are far more likely to have their application for citizenship rejected if the decision is made using a referendum. | EUROPP","author":"Colin Twiggs","date":"February 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"When immigrants in Switzerland apply for citizenship, the decision is made in the municipality where they reside. While in some parts of Switzerland these decisions are made by elected representatives, in other municipalities individual applications are subject to a public referendum. Dominik Hangartner and Jens Hainmueller assess the impact of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "UK & Europe"","block_context":{"text":"UK & Europe","link":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/category\/countries-regions\/uk-europe-countries-regions\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15082,"url":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/2017\/04\/02\/politicians-addicted-to-the-polls\/","url_meta":{"origin":8654,"position":3},"title":"Politicians addicted to the polls","author":"ColinTwiggs","date":"April 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"From Ross Gittins: I realised the Australian government was fast approaching peak fake when I read Laura Tingle of the Financial Review's revelation that Malcolm Turnbull's Snowy 2.0 announcement was timed to favourably influence the imminent fortnightly Newspoll result. When our leaders progress from being mesmerised by opinion polls to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Stock Markets"","block_context":{"text":"Stock Markets","link":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/category\/stock-markets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3982,"url":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/2012\/03\/27\/budget-2012-george-osborne-averts-a-slow-national-rot-telegraph-blogs\/","url_meta":{"origin":8654,"position":4},"title":"Budget 2012: George Osborne averts a slow national rot \u2013 Telegraph Blogs","author":"Colin Twiggs","date":"March 27, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: The underlying ghastliness of the British predicament remains. [Government] Spending as a share of GDP has ratcheted up from 35pc at the end of the 1990s to the Brownian peak of 51.7pc in 2009 (Eurostat), an all-time high in peace-time. It came back slightly to 50.4pc in 2010.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Economy"","block_context":{"text":"Economy","link":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/category\/economy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6994,"url":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/2013\/03\/15\/australia-the-rba-should-emulate-the-swiss\/","url_meta":{"origin":8654,"position":5},"title":"Australia: RBA should emulate the Swiss","author":"Colin Twiggs","date":"March 15, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Australia is suffering a similar fate to Switzerland, where the Swiss Franc soared against the Euro during the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis. Flight to safety caused the Franc to rocket, threatening local manufacturing industry. Exporters were priced out of international markets while imports were undercutting local suppliers. The Swiss National\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Australia & NZ"","block_context":{"text":"Australia & NZ","link":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/category\/countries-regions\/australia-nz-countries-regions\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8654\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepatientinvestor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}