Thursday, June 09, 2005

Swiss Democracy

What do Swiss do on Sunday? Go to church and vote. Well not every Sunday, but lots. This real democracy has been in its present form since the 1800s when it copied almost, the American bicameral legislature, although it has existed since 1300 in some form or another, making it one of the world’s oldest democracy rivaled only by Iceland.

Often the more numerous Swiss Germans vote one way overruling the Swiss French vote, but last Sunday the country approved the Schengen Treaty making border crossings easier as well as approving civil arrangements for couples.

This time there was no talk about the Roesti Curtain. Roesti is the hash-brown potato-type dish of the Swiss Germans. The term is used to describe the different attitudes in voting. However, lots of Swiss French eat Roesti.

Long may the continue the voting tradition.

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