Switzerlandis not a country of banks, cheese, and chocolate. It is a country of openness, innovations, and freedom of thought. All of this refers to various kinds of activities, from backyard maintenance to government organization. And if we want to learn from Swiss experience, we need to get into the very essence of things, look closer at the details. The Day’s journalist made such conclusion after her visit to Switzerland, which was initiated by the president of Switzerland and organized by the Embassy of Switzerland to Ukraine. Such press tours are carried out annually and were created to open Switzerland to foreign citizens, media, and other countries. After creating its state from scratch, Switzerland is ready to share its know-how, thus propagating the principles of democracy and civil rights.
FEDERALISM AND DEMOCRACY
The Swiss believe that federalism is the genuine democracy. The matter of federalism became urgent for Ukraine not so long ago, when city and oblast officials of the eastern part of Ukraine became preoccupied with the issue. For example, the mayor of Donetsk Oleksandr Lukianchenko voiced the idea of “economic federalism.” It was presented on April 9 by the secretary of the Donetsk City Council Serhii Bohachov. “Budget federalism is a mechanism that enables tax collection on a specific territory and its further usage for development of this territory. It is said that this is an automatic system of money acquisition. It is oriented at teaching local authorities how to work properly. It should be noted that if there is not enough money for a region’s development, the state must carry out the equalization of the region’s income. Undoubtedly, there is no contradiction here, this (tax autonomy, budget federalism) is a European tendency,” he noted.
But federalism in Switzerland is not just a political and economic system. It is a historically established tradition of thinking as well. The country has come to this at the beginning of its creation, and has never abandoned these principles. Of course, cantons (Switzerland’s administrative units) are somewhat independent from each other. But there is also a tradition of aid, which is rendered by rich cantons to poor ones. If a canton’s budget exceeds a certain sum, the surplus is given to the other, less successful cantons. “Of course, some don’t like that, but it is a tradition and their duty. This is normal. Each canton has its resources. There are very rich cantons and very poor ones, it just happened like this historically. And we must help each other,” says Emanuel Borter, research fellow at the Institute of Federalism, Fribourg.
In economic sense, each canton tries to find some other ways to find income. “But it is always hard. And those usually are small companies,” Borter adds. The cantons that border on Germany and France cooperate with the border territories of these countries. Thus, TriRhena Euroregion, which unites Germany, France, and Switzerland, is considered to be one of the biggest in Europe. Something similar is now practiced in Ukraine too, but it is too early to view its results, since some Euroregions are only a year or two old.
Besides the main federative constitution, individual cantons have their own internal constitutions, which they can amend. All of them can differ. And changes made to these constitutions are brought out to referendums. “The people is the ultimate instance. The last word belongs to the people,” says Marino Leber of the Federal Department of Justice.
“We have democracy. All the issues are viewed at referendum, where it is decided if they should be included in the constitution or not. For example, recently we considered a number of vacation weeks in this fashion, since there was a proposal to make the vacation six weeks long instead of four. But the majority of the Swiss voted for leaving four weeks. We settle all the matters in this way, and the constitution is amended depending on the results of referendums. That is why, unlike the US constitution, which could be 2 pages long, ours is 76 pages long,” says Tomislav Milic, Ph.D., doctor of political sciences at the University of Bern.
But before talking about elections, referendums, and federalism, one must think about those who are electing, about the voters’ degree of literacy and education. Because it is their education and knowledge of the topic that builds this democracy. Are we sure that our citizens are that well-informed of political and economic processes? Do they know the essence of the proposed laws? For example, in Switzerland, a full text of a law appears in three languages right after it was approved in a parliamentary chamber. “Everything happens fast and open here. For example, the Swiss can watch the parliamentary debates at home on the Internet, sipping a cup of tea on the couch. Besides, a full text of a law appears on the parliamentary website in three languages within three minutes, so everyone can read it,” says the parliament guide.
“We have an extremely open system,” Milic adds, “Before adopting any law at the referendum, its printed copies are sent to everyone.”
Also, a tradition similar to our viche (a moot) still exists there. It is used for declaration of will in small villages (half cantons): people come to an open area and vote by raising hands.
Sibylle Ambuehl, the spokesperson for the Swiss president, thinks that “people here are very well-educated. Despite that only half of the population have a university degree, high school and colleges provide the young Swiss with everything they need.” At the same time, according to the data provided by the portal osvita.ua, in Ukraine “the number of post-graduates of higher educational institutions of the III and IV levels of accreditations was equal to 543,700 in 2012, a record number, which is four times more than in 1991.” But can we boast that every second passerby knows all the details of the pension or education reforms? Or is our knowledge limited to “political debates” waged at Shuster’s and Kiselev’s TV talk shows?
THE TRUTH IS IN DETAILS
During the meeting with Ukrainian journalists, Ihor Dir, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Swiss Confederation, noted: “In order to understand Switzerland, one must take a closer look at the details.” This suggests clockwork precision, and the confederation is usually compared to a clock. If one of the cogwheels does not work, the clock will show wrong time. And in Switzerland everything happens on time, which means that the whole system, including the smallest details, is carefully designed and maintained.
The creators of the voting system in the lower chamber of the Swiss parliament did not invent a bicycle. It cannot even be doubted whether an MP votes for himself only or for somebody else too. The solution is very simple, a canton representative has to raise both hands at the same time. One hand is used for “yes,” “no,” “abstaining,” or “present,” and the other for confirmation of the voting. No matter how heated the debate gets, there can never be a situation when one MP votes for another, because they surely cannot have four hands.
By the way, the construction of the Swiss parliament building was done in several stages. First, the right wing was built. The great hall of the National Council, lower chamber, and lobby hall, used for communication between journalists and MPs, are located there now. But that was not enough, and soon a left wing was added (for the Council of States, the upper chamber). But you will not notice it while going up the wide staircase, the entire building looks as a whole. You will be welcomed by four guards, who symbolize the four languages: German, French, Italian, and Rhaeto-Romanic. In the middle, three “wise men” are standing, the symbol of the official languages: German, French, and Italian. And if you look up, you will see the emblems of all 23 cantons. Also, there are paintings and mosaic panels depicting historic events and the creation of Switzerland, its hallmark activities, and so on. The parliament guide proudly tells about the country’s creation and how its citizens value their multiculturalism. And all these objects, all the statues and paintings are there to remind the MPs about their country and its principles. It should be said that initially Switzerland was not a rich country. Its economically successful present is the result of hard work, congruence, and mutual understanding.
Speaking of congruence, the public transportation system should be mentioned. This is the most popular way of traveling. For example, Robert Bachman, deputy regional coordinator for Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the MFA Federal Department, spends an hour to get from Zurich, where he lives, to Bern, where he works, because he travels by train. And this is practiced by 90 percent of MPs.
There are very few cars in the capital, the city is free from traffic jams and exhaust fumes. People use trams, bicycles, and subway to move around the city, and cars are only used over the weekend, to get out of the city (to be honest, owning a car in Switzerland is rather expensive).
Trains here always run on time. They are never late, and if something happens and a train is at least four minutes late, an apology is given over the station loudspeaker.
It should be noted that what we call “gratitude” or a “present” is viewed as corruption here and has corresponding consequences. Officials may not accept presents here, whether it is a watch or just a box of chocolates, both are regarded as corruption. “It happens very rarely here, people understand that if they get caught, they lose everything, and they put their job in the first place. Corruption is not profitable,” says Nina Massueger, research fellow at the Institute of Federalism, Fribourg.
PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
Certainly, there are problems everywhere, and the Swiss complain about their country as well. For example, about environment preservation and other issues. However, the language issue is not aggravated in Switzerland, unlike in Ukraine. Since the 19th century, there were wars between different language communities. Today, this matter is not brought up. Each Swiss citizen has to know all three official languages. They can speak either of them, but they have to understand all three. “We have one national television and radio broadcasting company. But there are several TV channels in all official languages. They have different shows and compete with each other. They are independent from the parliament, which some MPs might not always like. But there is nothing they can do,” says Marcus Haefliger, journalist of Neue Zuercher Zeitung.
Switzerlandholds on trust, mutual understanding, and dignity. During many decades, its citizens built a country with a solid system of economy, politics, and their own opinion on the global processes, a country which everyone wants to visit. People value their space and are open to everything. The Swiss citizens’ houses are scattered all across the country’s territory. Fences around the houses are very low (if there are any at all) and easy to step over, people are not afraid that thieves, bums, or drug addicts might break in. The walls of modern buildings are transparent, with huge French windows that reach all the way to the floor.
Our task is to build Ukraine within Ukraine, starting from the most important thing, the perception of ourselves as a nation and a state.
And in conclusion, when we came to Zurich, a passport control officer asked the lady in front of us what the goal of her visit to Switzerland was. She said she was there to visit her son who worked for Google. Every year, more and more Ukrainians move abroad, to the countries where their dreams can come true and their work will be truly appreciated. Would they leave if they knew their dreams might become real in Ukraine?
