Changes

===[[Referendum|Referenda]]===

A strong emphasis on ballot votes arises out of the traditional Swiss belief that the will of the people is the final national authority. Every constitutional amendment adopted by parliament is automatically brought to the ballot and has to carry a double majority of votes and cantons in order to become effective. The voters themselves may actively seek changes to the Constitution by means of the popular [[initiative]]: 100,000 voters may with their signatures request a national vote on a proposed [[constitutional amendment]]. New federal legislation also is subject to popular review, under the so-called referendum: 50,000 signatures suffice to call a ballot vote on any federal law adopted by parliament. The Assembly can declare an act to be too urgent to allow time for popular consideration, but this is rare. At any rate, an act passed urgently must have a time limit and is later subject to the same constitutional provisions on popular review as other legislation. This device provides a useful channel for linking laws closely to the will of the people and reducing the influence of elites. A stunning example of this process occurred in November 2009, when Swiss voters turned out at the polls in huge numbers to approve of an amendment to the constitution banning the construction of [[minaret]]s.<ref>http://www.admin.ch/ch/d//pore/va/20091129/det547.html Official voting results (in German)</ref> This decision of a vast majority of voters to take a stand against political Islam came after a campaign in which the establishment elites had presented a unified front against the measure: all political parties except the [[Swiss People's Party]] had strongly opposed the suggested amendment, and most of the media openly mocked its supporters as racist and foolish.

===Political Conditions===