Democratic Movement (Switzerland)

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In Swiss history, democratic movements in the narrower sense of the word refer to the reform-oriented popular movements that formed from 1860 and aimed at direct democratic , socialist and state interventionist changes. The end of the democratic movement is dated with the revision of the federal constitution in 1874.

The Democratic Movement can be understood as an epoch, age or era . It was referred to in French-speaking Switzerland as the École de Winterthour , as the democratic movement in Winterthur began with the struggle to revise the Zurich cantonal constitution.

prehistory

Landsturm near Solothurn, 1798

The predominance of the city-states over the landscape periodically led to uprisings ( Swiss Peasants' War ) in the Old Confederation between urban rule and parts of the landscape , which invoked old rights and the rural communities in the original cantons . The conflict-ridden, continuous process had created small autonomous areas in the form of cooperative communities (residents, local citizens or corporations communities) since the late Middle Ages. At this political level, the citizen received increased basic political training, which went hand in hand with the expansion of the elementary school and was based on the assembly tradition since the Helvetic Republic .

The political participation of the people ( political rights ) and modern democratic elements such as the veto , the referendum and the popular initiative were called for at "People's Days" and popular assemblies ("Landsgemeinden") and were included in the new constitutions of individual cantons ( Appenzell Innerrhoden 1829: Individual initiative , St. Gallen 1831: Volksveto , Basel-Landschaft 1832: Volksveto , Luzern 1841: Veto debate and introduction of veto ) already anchored during regeneration .

When the modern federal state was founded in 1848, the federal government and the cantons were mostly representative democracies with direct democratic elements.

From 1845 to 1854, opposition groups in the canton of Zurich unsuccessfully demanded the extension of popular rights and state intervention in economic and social matters. These oppositionists were first referred to by their opponents in 1854 with the term "democratic movement".

Beginnings in the cantons

The democratic movement was active in the industrialized cantons of north-west and east Switzerland. It was a reaction of the strata concerned to the effects of advancing industrialization in the second half of the 19th century as well as to the concentration of power among the successful industrialists ( "System Escher" ) and the dominant right-wing liberal freedom . In contrast to the liberal radicals, the democrats called for increased direct democratic control.

The clashes between the conservative liberals and the "radicals" ( early socialists ) took place in western Switzerland and in the agricultural canton of Bern . Democratic movements in the cantons emerged in Zurich in 1867, in St. Gallen in 1881 and 1888, in Thurgau in 1891, in Glarus in 1902 and in Appenzell Ausserrhoden in 1906.

The democratic movement was mainly supported by the rural and small-town bourgeoisie. They were artisans, small industrialists, farmers, but also workers. Their programmatic and organizational leaders came from the rural intelligentsia (teachers, pastors, editors, civil servants, doctors, lawyers, manufacturers), who propagated their ideas in their own press, which was also widespread in the countryside ( Winterthurer Landbote , Bülacher Volksfreund ). The control of the state lay with the established bourgeoisie, represented in the liberal spirit . The democratic movement wanted to replace the representative system it represented with direct democratic and state interventionist institutions.

The first constitutional changes were implemented in the cantons. People's assemblies were organized, signatures were collected and initiatives for a constitutional amendment were submitted. As soon as the people approved the constitutional amendment initiative, a constitutional council was elected to draft a new constitution. The catalog of demands contained, among other things, the mandatory and the optional referendum , direct election of the executive and judiciary, the right of initiative as well as socio-political postulates such as free school attendance, tax progression and the establishment of cantonal banks that were supposed to grant cheap loans, the abolition of the death penalty . The factory legislation and the creation of social were not missing.

The efforts were first successful in the cantons of Basel-Landschaft, Zurich and Thurgau; partially successful in Lucerne, Bern and Aargau. These achievements had an impact on cantons without popular movements such as Solothurn, Schaffhausen or St.Gallen, where direct democratic constitutional revisions were also carried out.

Consequences for the Federal Constitution

Commemorative sheet for the acceptance of the revised BV 1874. U. a. the date, short revision texts and voting results of the cantons are recognizable.

The success of the democratic movement in many cantons also had an impact on the federal level. Changes were only possible through a total revision. This was promoted by the discussion about the Jesuit ban (expansion) and the desire to subordinate the army to the federal government. A positive outcome of the first vote in 1872 failed due to some provisions that were perceived as too centralistic . The revised version (one approached the federalist -minded opposition and limited oneself to the fight against the Catholic conservatives) from 1874 found a large majority and was implemented.

  • The new federal constitution gave the federal government the authority to administer the army
  • The federal court , based in Lausanne, became permanent
  • The legal standardization was secured
  • The federal government was given the right to legislate for workers' protection (first Swiss factory law, 1877)
  • In addition to the Jesuit ban, there was a ban on building new monasteries and new dioceses and orders were only allowed to be founded with the consent of the Confederation
  • Civil status issues were declared a purely state matter
  • Transition from representative to direct democracy
  • The optional referendum was introduced
  • The freedom of trade, belief and conscience was guaranteed
  • As a Swiss citizen, every canton citizen may vote in elections at his place of residence; the freedom of establishment was extended

The direct democratic federal constitution of 1874 strengthened the federal government as a whole by assigning it more tasks, although the optional referendum could act as a political brake.

Since a large part of their demands were met, the democratic movement disbanded . Interest groups and socio-political needs persisted, however, which led to the establishment of democratic parties. The successor to the Democratic Movement was the Democratic Party .

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Democratic Movement (Switzerland)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Blog National Museum: Regeneration - People's Days around 1830
  2. ^ Social archive: 150 years ago: The democratic movement plows the canton of Zurich