Swiss Review 5/2021

Swiss Review / October 2021 / No.5 5 Mailbag Are Swiss 16-year-olds ready to vote? I know many 16-year-olds whose maturity far exceeds that of people twice their age, including some politicians. I am 70 years old and notice that young people are far better informed about world events than I was at their age. It is young people who are taking the lead on climate change, themost pressing issue of our time. So I fully support the low- ering of the voting age to 16. RICHARD JAKOB-HOFF, NEW ZEAL AND I don’t think it’s a good idea as young people aremore easily in- fluenced the younger they are. This is like manna for extreme political parties looking to win more votes. It would be head- ing towards a slippery slope which could knock the country into endless political turmoil… RENAUD WICKY, BAL I , INDONESIA Absolutely it should be lowered. At the very least, at the local and regional level. There is no reason why it can’t be imple- mented, while keeping other things a little bit older, for exam- ple, you can do federal participation and running for office when you are also required for military or civil service. All of these things should be reassessed with a view towards the fu- ture. MARC SPARGNAPANI , USA I think very few people are political at the age of 16. Teenagers like to party, but ask them about politics and they will stare at you blankly. The voting age should remain at 18. KARIN KRÄUCHI , GRAZ , AUSTRIA First of all – what a very interesting topic. Giving 16-year-olds the vote is a good idea. People will argue for and against. The most important thing is that young people develop a feeling of responsibility for their country. We must show that we trust them. ÖNDER ERDOGAN, TURKEY Absolutely no, I’m from Argentina where they lowered it for one simple reason: underage people don’t think about their future and they are easily attracted by ideas that sound good but in practice will doom your country. They are not mature enough to analyse and take decisions over economic and political matters. AXEL HALLEY, IREL AND What do Johanna and many of her peers want? The right to vote at the age of 16 The Federal Council abandons talks with the EU – a turning point that raises many questions High-wire act – Uri is the canton with the highest density of cable cars SWISS REVIEW The magazine for the Swiss Abroad August 2021 The publisher of “Swiss Review” is the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad The vote at 16, yes, to take into account the aspirations of younger people. We rely on them to improve on our mistakes. Those who are against it are looking to selfishly protect their own advantages. It would also be interesting to spend more time at school talking about business and companies, political structures, the running of household finances, etc. JEAN PIERRE MAIRE, SPAIN Giving 16-year-olds the vote is irresponsible. Young people at that age are not mature enough and can be influenced to an ex- tent that wouldmake fair decisions at the ballot box an impos- sibility. You need a certain amount of life experience to make important decisions. Democracy at the ballot box not only means looking after your own interests – it also means doing something for the general good. RENATO BESOMI , JAVEA , SPAIN Are 16-year-olds really incapable of exercising a political voice? Democratic politics is essentially all about representing the in- terests of the people. Are we suggesting that the interests of 16-year-olds are less relevant than those of older people? Are they less important? A glance around the globemakesmemore inclined to think that the opposite is true, and to wonder whether it wouldmakemore sense to have amaximumvoting age instead. ARYE- ISAAC OPHIR, ISRAEL Was I ready to vote when I was 18, I don’t know. Would I have voted at 16 if allowed to, well yes. Would I vote the same way now that I am four times older, likely not. Sowhat could be the objections against voting at 16? The biggest problem I encoun- tered in voting at 18 was the lack of information. Nowadays more information is at hand and there is no reason to say that a 16-year-old person cannot make a rational decision. Is it possible that we are not comfortable reducing the voting right to 16 as it will rock the boat too much? I would support lower- ing the voting age to 16 any time. KURT FEHLMANN, AUSTRAL IA IMPRINT: “Swiss Review”, the magazine for the Swiss Abroad, is in its 47 th year of publication and is published in German, French, English and Spanish in 14 regional editions. It has a total circulation of 431,000, including 253,000 electronic copies. Regional news appears four times a year. The ordering parties are fully responsible for the content of advertisements and promotional inserts. This content does not necessarily represent the opinion of either the editorial office or the publisher. EDITORS: Marc Lettau (MUL), Editor-in-Chief; Stéphane Herzog (SH); Theodora Peter (TP); Susanne Wenger (SWE); Consular Directorate, Innovation and Partnerships, responsible for the “Notes from Parliament Building” section. EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: Sandra Krebs TRANSLATION: SwissGlobal Language Services AG; LAYOUT: Joseph Haas, Zürich; PRINT: Vogt-Schild Druck AG, 4552 Derendingen POSTAL ADDRESS: Publisher, editorial office, advertising: Organisation of the Swiss Abroad, Alpenstrasse 26, 3006 Berne, Tel.: +41313566110. 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