Universal basic income is rejected in Swiss

In Switzerland, a referendum to introduce universal basic income was held recently. The result was rejection, with 77 % opposing votes.

TechCrunch: Swiss reject universal basic income in public referendum

Swiss is a small nation, but has a crucial role in the international relationship in Europe. It keeps politically neutral position. The government is willing to consider some unique policies in several occasions. Basic income had been discussed as a newly developed topic.

My past entry: Basic income in Swiss: A challenge?

In Swiss, public referendum has to be conducted when a certain number of citizens request so. This was for the first time of the vote for universal basic income. In the past, euqual payment bill was under the vote.

My past entry: Universal basic income, a new challenge in Swiss

My past entry: Equal payment bill will come in Swiss?

Unfortunately, the idea of universal basic income seemed not feasible. The government had warned that the implementation of giving every citizens 2,00 Swiss franc a month was not realistic according to the fiscal situation. Many citizens had to approve this public statement.

It is a disadvantage of direct democracy. To make a meaningful change in public policy, there are enormous points to examine. If a certain policy is approved, the effect of it on citizens' daily life highly depends on the content of concrete process of performing the policy. Goverment officials are responsible for accomplishing the new legisration. If they cannot make successful negotiations among several counterparts in each policy, the ideology of the policy will never realized. Ordinary citizens are aware of this fact. Therefore, they hardly agree with innovative policy which is doubtful to be realized.

Nonetheless, Swiss is one of the candidates in which basic income is realized for the first time, I think. I hope discussion will proceed in the next time.