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A Consideration of Democratic Participation in Switzerland and Britain with Reference to the Management of an Educational Issue at Local Level in Both Countries

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A Consideration of Democratic Participation in Switzerland and Britain with Reference to the Management of an Educational Issue at Local Level in Both Countries A Consideration of Democratic Participation in Switzerland and Britain with Reference to the Management of an Educational Issue at Local Level in both Countries Robert Kenrick JONES A Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy Institute of Education University of London 2007 VOL. I Acknowledgements I wish to record my thanks to the following people for the invaluable help and advice they have provided. To Professor Richard Topf of London Metropolitan University for his endless patience and the academic insights he has shown me, to the staff of the Institute of Education London University and to Dr Ernest Bollinger former Chef de 1’Information of the canton of Geneva, to Yves Flicker, Lecturer in Social Studies in the University of Geneva and finally to my wife for adjusting our life to facilitate this venture. 2 4 ABSTRACT A consideration of democratic participation in Switzerland and Britain with reference to the management of an educational issue at local level in both countries This thesis is concerned with participatory democracy and its effectiveness in action. The aim of the underlying research has been to examine this form of democracy as it is revealed in one country (Switzerland) and within that to focus on a specific canton (Geneva); secondly to compare it with the democratic structure of the United Kingdom and again focusing on a particular region - the County of Buckinghamshire. In each case, at the local level, I have chosen one sensitive issue - education- and considered how far people participated in their own destinies, written from a United Kingdom background. It happened that an issue concerning selection of pupils arose in both areas at roughly the same time and which generated much discussion. I analysed the situation within the context of the systems of government and educational strategy of each country, my purpose being to discover whether the British representative democratic system or the Swiss direct democracy served their citizens best. In the chosen provincial areas of both states it happened that both grammar and non-selective schools existed. The main findings showed that in Switzerland the launching of a Popular Initiative involved the citizen at all stages thereafter - collecting signatures, a commission, and a final constitutionally approved referendum to decide the outcome. In the British county, however, the voter was offered a non-binding public opinion poll and had then to await the verdict of the county council. Finally, I consider the prospect of introducing a participatory democratic structure, akin to the Swiss model, into the British scene, as it might well encourage the United Kingdom voter into feeling a greater sense of personal involvement in the outcome of political events. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 List of Tables, Figures and Diagrams 7 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 9 An Hypothesis 10 Overview 12 Rationale and origins 13 CHAPTER 2: BACKGROUND TO THE RESEARCH 17 Democracy and political participation 18 Structural levels of governments, parliaments and distribution of resources in Britain and Switzerland 21 Political means employed at English and Swiss national and local levels 24 Educational policy, democracy and implementation in Britain and Switzerland 26 CHAPTER 3: DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION 30 The ingredients constituting the makeup o f a viable citizen democracy 30 Participation in the 21st century 32 Written constitutions and implications 41 Accountability 42 Swiss governmental structure on Weir’s model 44 Matching state democracy and society 46 CHAPTER 4: THE STRUCTURAL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT IN SWITZERLAND AND ENGLAND 63 Switzerland 64 Britain 67 Switzerland - The National Parliament 68 Britain - The Houses of Parliament 70 National Cabinets 72 National resources and expenditure in Switzerland and Britain 75 A diagram of the British legal system 77 Swiss Law 79 The Local Government scene: Switzerland and United Kingdom 81 General Comparisons 85 The Swiss educational framework 88 The United Kingdom educational framework 89 Conclusion 93 4 CHAPTER 5: POLITICAL MEANS EMPLOYED AT ENGLISH AND SWISS NATIONAL AND LOCAL LEVEL GOVERNMENT LEVELS LINKING THEM TO CITIZENS’ NEEDS 96 Introduction 96 Popular democratic machinery and its variations in each state 97 Referenda 103 The public services of Britain and political participation 115 The Swiss public services and political participation 118 Commissions in Britain 122 Swiss Commissions 124 Public demonstrations in the United Kingdom 126 The peaceable Swiss 127 Swiss and British practices in democratic procedures 127 The effects of democratic practices on political participation in Britain and Switzerland 130 Swiss citizens and life in their democratic state 133 Swiss and British Local Practices 135 The national perspectives 142 The Swiss political scene 145 Political efficacy by education 146 British and Swiss - millenium up-date on surveys 150 Conclusion 155 A caveat 156 CHAPTER 6: RATIONALE UNDERLYING THE METHODOLOGY FOR THE SWISS AND BRITISH RESEARCH 159 Rationale 159 Questionnaires 159 Interviews 163 CHAPTER 7: AN EXAMINATION OF SWISS PARTICIPATION OVER AN ISSUE IN EDUCATION WHICH OCCURRED IN THE SWISS CANTON OF GENEVA: 1960-1999 165 Introduction 165 Cantonal finance 173 The political clash o f 1984 in Geneva 176 Swiss educational methods 177 The Liberal Party Popular Initiative (L'ecole notre avenir) 181 The Swiss philosophy within the Initiative and Counter Proposal procedure 189 The Swiss respondents to the questionnaire on direct democracy (see Annex 4 and Appendices 1-38) 191 The Swiss Press 200 Impact of participatory democracy in the past five years at cantonal level in Geneva 201 5 CHAPTER 8: HOW A LOCALLY INSPIRED BRITISH EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVE FARED UNDER REPRESENTATIONAL DEMOCRACY 204 Introduction 204 The grammar school issue 205 The British questionnaire (see Annex 4 and Appendices 39-63) 218 CHAPTER 9: THE FUTURE OF POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM228 British Participatory Democracy: its future in Britain at local level? 233 The current background 233 Parliamentary legislation 234 Comparisons - Britain and Switzerland 238 Concluding remarks 244 BIBLIOGRAPHY 249 ANNEX 1 265 List of Political Components of Buckinghamshire and Geneva Councils 265 ANNEX 2 266 Comparisons of Swiss and British national and local government structures 266 ANNEX 3 267 Geneva Popular Initiative ‘L’Ecole Notre Avenir’ (1982) 267 ANNEX 4 268 Summary of Responses to the Questionnaires 268 6 List of Tables, Figures and Diagrams Table 3.1 What voters think of with the word ‘democracy’ 57 Table 4.1 Establishment of Swiss Cantons 62 Figure 4.2 Structures of National Government 67 Table 4.3 British Government Annual Expenditure: 2003 73 Table 4.4 Comparative Financial Responsibilities in Switzerland 74 Figure 4.5 Judicial Structures of England and Switzerland 76 Table 4.6 R°le of Communes in Swiss Governmental Polity 80 Table 4.7 British and Swiss Local Government Structural Comparisons 80 Table 5.1 Obligations of Different Levels of the Swiss State 125 Table 5.2 Results of Poll of Citizens’ Allegiance to Swiss Political 127 Institutions Table 5.3 Number of Women in Swiss Parliaments 1971-1999 130 Table 5.4 Results of Poll on Interest in Local Parties in Britain 134 Table 5.5 British Public’s Trust in various UK bodies 139 Table 5.6 UK Voter’s Trust in Councillors or a ‘Jury’ 139 Table 5.7 Perceived Value of Citizen Input to Local Decisions in the UK 140 Table 5.8 Swiss Interest in Political Party Affairs 141 Table 5.9 Background of British Members of Parliament 142 Table 5.10 Educational Attainment Levels and Activity Levels in Politics 143 in Switzerland Table 5.11 Political Parties across Switzerland 144 VOL. I Page Table 5.12 Voting Preferences- Swiss Citizens 147 Table 5.13 UK Local Taxation 148 Table 5.14 Control over British County Councils 148 Diagram 7.1 Canton of Geneva Educational System (Cycle d ’Orientation) 166 Table 7.2 Responsibilities in Swiss Education 168 Table 7.3 Results of Popular Referendum in Geneva 180 Diagram 9.1 Possible Structure For Political Participation In Britain 231 Table 9.2.1 United Kingdom: County of Buckinghamshire Income and 234 Expenditure Table 9.2.2 Switzerland: The Canton of Geneva Income and expenditure 234 Table 9.3 Shared Federal and Cantonal Costs in Switzerland (2000) 235 7 VOL. II APPENDICES: Questionnaire Responses, Interviews, and Correspondence 269 Questionnaire responses: Swiss Councillors of the Grand 271 Council of Geneva (Items 1-38) Questionnaire responses: The Councillors of Buckinghamshire 347 County Council (Items 39-63) Interview transcripts and correspondence (Items 64-83) 373 List of newspaper cuttings and minutes of meetings referenced 400 8 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Democracy (‘demos the people and kratos strength’) as a political concept has many facets. The word can embrace popular government as practised in Britain, the one-party democracies of emergent Africa, the fictional democracy of Stalinist Russia or the comprehensive participation as practised in such countries as Denmark, Switzerland or parts of the USA. The term has been made to serve the interests of dictators, monarchs and republicans throughout history. All definitions, however, include the essential element of participation in some form or other. Nevertheless, democratic methods boil down to two main concepts, namely Representative or Participatory Democracy. In representative democracy, as for instance obtains in Britain and much of the western world, the voter has direct control over their political destinies only at election times. On other occasions the voter relies on their member of parliament to legislate and guide their destinies. Participatory democracy, however, extends the citizen’s powers of direct decision-making to areas such as direct taxation, schools, laws, defence, the environment and health. It can also cover powers to repeal national laws. This thesis is an examination of the effectiveness of two democratic systems (one representative, the other participatory) when confronted by a very sensitive issue locally.
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