Switzerland, which has a population of 8.5 million, is traditionally conservative and only extended full voting rights to women in federal elections in 1971, with one canton holding out on full voting rights for municipal elections until 1990.
Appenzell Innerrhoden is what we might call rural even by Swiss standards. Of course, it’s not quite Norfolk, that’s Glarus – an inhabitant of Appenzell once insisted we drive up through Glarus to see how teeth got worse, ears flared more obviously from skulls, as we went up the valley. The story was that the one end of the valley pass was only open for a few weeks in late summer, leaving only the one way in and out for 90% of the year. Courting had therefore been local for century upon century.
But, another story about Appenzell Innerrhoden. I think it’s true but it was just told to me. That in the 70s there was that extension of the vote to women. And Appenzell the inner had a look at this in the local elections and thought about it. And tried it a few times. Then had a vote on taking – for local elections – it away from women again. A vote which gained the majority of female votes in favour of taking the vote away from women.
I’ve not looked very hard and haven’t found any proof of this. But then who would want to spoil such a lovely story with actual facts?
In the U.S. the first thing women did with the right to vote was to pass Prohibition.
I think that Switzerland has a great system! I think that local governments should be stronger that state and national levels. If you don’t like your own county, then it would be a short distance to a different one. Only socialists love centralization.
There is another great thing about Appenzell: the delicious hemp-flavoured beer. Pre-rona, the offie at Basel SBB, to pick up a few for the journey home, used to be the highlight of dreary trips to Switzerland’s crappiest town.
In a judgment of 27 November 1990 in the case of Theresa Rohner et consorts contre Appenzell Rhodes-Intérieures (ATF 116 Ia 359), the Swiss federal court declared unconstitutional the exclusive male suffrage as had been practiced in the half canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden. The principle of equality between men and women as was guaranteed by the federal constitution ordered, in effect, an interpretation of the Appenzell constitution such that women’s suffrage should be equally possible. The voters of the canton had stood against women’s suffrage in 1959 by 2050 votes to 105.
“ Basel ….. Switzerland’s crappiest town.”
I’ll second that.
The curious thing about Switzerland is that essentially everywhere outside of Basel is amazing. It is like there is some law of conservation of crappiness that Zürich, Ticino, and Geneva have to be counterweighted by Basel.
I have an anecdote about Basel involving a single pair of underpants, every sodding shop in the city closing at 6pm, a boring meeting at one of the more boring (but at the time centrally-located) pharma companies dragging on until 5:54pm so that the only purveyor of gentlemen’s underwear for miles around could slam their door in my face as I ran there, not being told before 5:54pm that said meeting would resume the following day, and why I am happy that cheap hotel rooms have hairdryers.
I have many reasons to hate Basel. The same reasons as Blake Edwards hated Switzerland in general.
I did like the way that the locals voted against it, and it had to be forced on them by legal pressure from the federal court.
Sounds like real modern democracy doesn’t it?
Ah. International underpant crisis. I’m sure we’ve all been there, with variations to the details.
You pee’d your pants Biggie? Must have been some meeting.
Reminds me of the Spike Milligan story about the bloke with a recurrence of Dysentery.
A few years ago, we broke our journey to Italy with a one day stay in Basle. There’s enough to keep you interested for a day, but after that…
What I really couldn’t understand was the prices, which were, if not double then at least a substantial uplift on the cost of the same item in either France or Germany, both of which are a few minutes away by public transport. (This was despite all the shops happily accepting euros at 1:1 with the SFr). How do Basle shops survive?
“How do Basle shops survive?”
Business visitors whose meetings end before 5:54 PM.