Swiss Review 1/2019

Swiss Review / January 2019 / No.1 22 the parties on the centre-right and right argue that insur- ance fraud undermines public confidence in the social se- curity system, and weakens social solidarity and the will- ingness to share the cost burden. Fresh competition for political parties and associations These three very different issues and the campaigns sur- rounding them have one thing in common –they are all in- dicative of a relatively recent phenomenon in Swiss democ- racy. Political parties and associations – Switzerland’s traditional referendumvehicles – are facing serious compe- tition fromvarious groups within civil society. The referen- dumagainst “social welfare detectives” originated froman unprecedented onlinemovement organised by a quartet of activists, while the Horned Cow Initiative was the brain- child of one individual. Even the campaign against the SVP initiative was coordinated by a non-ideological alliance of extremely well-connected, influential civil society groups spanning the political divide and operatingmainly outside the traditional party-political spectrum. The Federal Coun- cil, Parliament, political parties and associations had better prepare for fresh competition. Political processes might be- come more complicated and difficult to control as a result, but this is good news for direct democracy. Mountain farmer Armin Capaul only resorted to his pop- ular initiative after getting nowhere in various interven- tions at administrative and political level. With a handful of helpers, he collected some 120,000 signatures more or less single-handedly. Capaul wanted to include a provision in the Constitution stipulating that the federal government subsidise farmers who keep cows or goats with horns. His argument was that the practice of disbudding is a cruel form of mutilation that violates an animal’s dignity. Subsi- dieswere necessary in his viewbecause farmers needmore land to rear horned cows. The counterargument was that cattlewith horns are dangerous, and that themotion could even do the animalsmore harmthan good, given thatmany farmers would tether their horned livestock instead of housing them in free-stall barns. Only the left-leaning Greens supported Capaul’s campaign. Nevertheless, the herder and his cause received considerable media and in- ternational attention. The referendum on “social welfare detectives” had no chance. Instead, 64.7% of voters clearly endorsed the stat- utory basis for carrying out covert surveillance on insur- ance claimants. Opponents believe the law goes too far. They fear that investigators working for social security agencies will be able to spy on potential fraudsters all the way into their bedrooms, thereby violating the fundamen- tal right to privacy. The Federal Council, Parliament and Mountain farmer Armin Capaul – “father” of the unsuc- cessful Horned Cow Initiative. Capaul’s popular initiative might not have had the same ramifica- tions as the other votes, but the media interest that it gen- erated at home and abroad was tremen- dous. Photo: Keystone