IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/copoec/v36y2025i2d10.1007_s10602-025-09468-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A political-economic analysis of swiss referendums 1848 to 2022: turnout, acceptance rates and the double-majority threshold

Author

Listed:
  • Madeleine Hosli

    (Leiden University)

  • Luiza Martins Santos

    (Leiden University)

  • Henry Boeree

    (Leiden University)

Abstract

This paper explores the evolution of voter turnout, acceptance rates, and the double majority requirement in Swiss national referendums from 1848 to 2022. Given the extensive time frame, the study highlights key developments such as the expansion of voting rights for women, the lowering of the voting age to 18, the varying population growth across cantons (the electoral districts relevant for the double majority), and the evolving costs associated with referendums over time, including the signature requirement relative to the population. Through an analysis of relevant figures and data, supported by t-tests, we discover that, despite these important changes and a substantial rise in the number of referendums in the past three decades, voter turnout, the acceptance of proposals, and the thresholds for the double majority clause have remained remarkably stable.

Suggested Citation

  • Madeleine Hosli & Luiza Martins Santos & Henry Boeree, 2025. "A political-economic analysis of swiss referendums 1848 to 2022: turnout, acceptance rates and the double-majority threshold," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 245-270, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:copoec:v:36:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s10602-025-09468-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10602-025-09468-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10602-025-09468-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10602-025-09468-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lars P. Feld & Gebhard Kirchgässner, 2001. "The political economy of direct legislation: direct democracy and local decision–making," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 16(33), pages 330-367.
    2. Matthias Benz & Alois Stutzer, 2004. "Are Voters Better Informed When They Have a Larger Say in Politics? -- Evidence for the European Union and Switzerland," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 119(1_2), pages 31-59, April.
    3. repec:oup:ecpoli:v:16:y:2001:i:33:p:329-367 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. repec:bla:ecpoli:v:16:y:2001:i:33:p:329-367 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Frey, Bruno S, 1994. "Direct Democracy: Politico-economic Lessons from Swiss Experience," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(2), pages 338-342, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zohal Hessami, 2016. "How Do Voters React to Complex Choices in a Direct Democracy? Evidence from Switzerland," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(2), pages 263-293, May.
    2. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, "undated". "The Role of Direct Democracy and Federalism in Local Power," IEW - Working Papers 209, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich.
    3. Lorenz Blume & Jens Müller & Stefan Voigt, 2009. "The economic effects of direct democracy—a first global assessment," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 431-461, September.
    4. Geschwind, Stephan & Roesel, Felix, 2022. "Taxation under direct democracy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 536-554.
    5. Benno Torgler & David Stadelmann & Marco Portmann, 2013. "The Power of Religious Organizations in Human Decision Processes: Analyzing Voting Behavior," CREMA Working Paper Series 2013-20, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    6. Felix Arnold & Ronny Freier & Magdalena Pallauf & David Stadelmann, 2015. "Voting for direct democratic participation: Evidence from an initiative election," CREMA Working Paper Series 2015-11, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    7. Benno Torgler & David Stadelmann & Marco Portmann, 2013. "The Power of Religious Organizations in Human Decision Processes: Analyzing Voting Behavior," CESifo Working Paper Series 4526, CESifo.
    8. Galletta, Sergio, 2021. "Form of government and voters’ preferences for public spending," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 186(C), pages 548-561.
    9. Aguiar-Conraria, Luís & Magalhães, Pedro C., 2010. "How quorum rules distort referendum outcomes: Evidence from a pivotal voter model," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 541-557, December.
    10. Stefan Voigt & Lorenz Blume, "undated". "The Economic Effects of Direct Democracy - A Cross-Country Assessment," German Working Papers in Law and Economics 2006-1-1144, Berkeley Electronic Press.
    11. Seebauer, Michael, 2015. "Does direct democracy foster efficient policies? An experimental investigation of costly initiatives," FAU Discussion Papers in Economics 01/2015, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Institute for Economics.
    12. Bruno S. Frey, 2010. "Democracy and Innovation," CREMA Working Paper Series 2010-20, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    13. Felix Arnold & Ronny Freier & Magdalena Pallauf & David Stadelmann, 2014. "Voting for Direct Democracy: Evidence from a Unique Popular Initiative in Bavaria," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1435, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    14. Berggren, Niclas & Karlson, Nils, 2003. "Constitutionalism, Division of Power and Transaction Costs," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 117(1-2), pages 99-124, October.
    15. Sergio Galletta, 2020. "Direct democracy, partial decentralization and voter information: evidence from Swiss municipalities," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 27(5), pages 1174-1197, October.
    16. Bruno Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2006. "Strengthening the citizens' role in international organizations," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 27-43, March.
    17. Bruno Frey, 2011. "Tullock challenges: happiness, revolutions, and democracy," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 148(3), pages 269-281, September.
    18. Kuhn, Andreas, 2011. "In the eye of the beholder: Subjective inequality measures and individuals' assessment of market justice," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 625-641.
    19. Stutzer Alois & Frey Bruno S., 2006. "Making International Organizations More Democratic," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 1(3), pages 305-330, January.
    20. Anna Maria Koukal & Patricia Schafer & Reiner Eichenberger, 2020. "The Trade-off between Deepening and Broadening of Democracy Lessons from Youth Enfranchisement," CREMA Working Paper Series 2020-16, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Switzerland; voter turnout; referendum type; acceptance rates; double-majority; popular initiatives; cantonal vote shares;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • F55 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Institutional Arrangements
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism
    • Z18 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Public Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:copoec:v:36:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s10602-025-09468-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.