3 Types
referendum, Centre for Research on Direct Democracy (C2D), direct democracy, report, worldwide
3.1 National and cantonal referendum types
Figure 3.1 compares the proportion of different types of referendums at the national and subnational (cantonal) levels in Switzerland.
As can be seen in Figure 3.1 (a), mandatory referendums make up a significant share of national referendums, accounting for 28.4 % of the total. Optional referendums are similarly prominent, constituting 30.9 % of all national referendums. Citizens’ initiatives make up 34.6 %. The sizable share of the latter two categories reflect the active role of citizen-driven processes in Switzerland’s direct democracy, despite their rather low acceptance rate (see Chapter 6). Counter proposals are less frequent, accounting for only 6.1 %.
In comparison to the national level, the cantonal level shown in Figure 3.1 (b) exhibits a very different pattern of referendum types. Dominating are mandatory referendums, which represent over half of all subnational referendums (59.6 %), underscoring the centrality of constitutionally mandated issues at the cantonal level. Citizens’ initiatives follow with 17.5 %, while optional referendums represent 15.4 %, showing that citizen-initiated processes are also an important part of cantonal democracy, although comparatively less so than on the national level. Counter proposals and governmental referendums represent smaller shares, with 4.3 % and 3.3 % respectively.
These charts highlight the differences between national and subnational referendums. Nationally, optional referendums and citizens’ initiatives are more common, while at the cantonal level, mandatory referendums are more dominant. However, as seen before, there is variance between cantons on several dimensions. This only shows an overall picture of referendums at the cantonal level and should not be used to make inferences about individual cantons.
3.2 Cantonal type variations
Figure 3.2 depicts the different types of referendums by canton. The distribution is very diverse across the cantons. However, mandatory referendums constitute the largest part of referendums in all cantons, except Nidwalden and Vaud (where citizens’ initatives dominate) and Basel Stadt and Ticino (where optional referendums constitute the largest share).
3.3 Trend of types
Figure 3.3 illustrates the relative frequency of cantonal referendums per year (smoothed), categorized by type and indexed to the year 1970. Over the observed period from 1970 to 2024, mandatory referendums have consistently remained below their 1970 baseline, reflecting a relative decline in use. As they constitute the majority of referendums, their decline led to the overall decrease in the number of cantonal referendums seen in Chapter 2.
Optional referendums and counter proposals show moderate overall increases compared to 1970, especially from the 2000s onward, peaking in the 2010s before tapering off.
Citizens’ initiatives have experienced the most significant rise, peaking sharply in the 2010s, with their activity dropping significantly since then but still hovering over the 1970 baseline. This suggests a growing but fluctuating emphasis on participatory mechanisms like citizens’ initiatives and counterproposals in cantonal politics, while mandatory referendums appear to have become less central over time.