Nigeria Should Adopt the Swiss Cantonal System of Government

According to "Language Conflicts and Political Community", published in 1967: "In the Western world of the mid-nineteenth century, language became accepted as the most important single defining characteristic of nationality. Fichte summed up a widely influential attitude when he asserted: "Wherever a separate language is found, there is also a separate nation which has the right to manage its affairs. . . and to rule itself". In the twentieth century this notion has had continued prominence. The peacemakers of Versailles tended to define national boundaries on the basis of language zone"and showed an unprecedented respect for the rights of linguistic minorities." Empirically, the most progressive nations are either linguistically-homogeneous or have a dominant language group (United States, Canada, England, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, etc.) An exception is the Swiss which, despite their language and religious diversity, have a very progressive and successful democracy. The summarized article "THE SWISS CANTONAL SYSTEM " A Model Democracy", authored by Frances Kendall, follows. The concepts of devolution of power, local autonomy, and participatory democracy have produced the world's most peaceful and prosperous country. For those interested in reining in out-of-control governments in other parts of the world, there are large parts of the Swiss cantonal system that are worthy of emulation. " Switzerland " Switzerland is considered by many to be the most democratic country in the world. It is also one of the world's most successful nations in economic terms. The Swiss people have the highest per-capita incomes in the world, and Switzerland is consistently rated among the top ten nations in terms of quality of life. The key to Swiss success is not to be found in natural resources (which are in extremely short supply); it lies rather in Switzerland's political institutions, which ensure that ordinary citizens are involved in political decision-making, and that no one interest group is able to benefit unduly at the expense of another. " A Three-Tier Federation " Switzerland is small " about one quarter the size of the US State of Ohio " and it is divided into 26 areas called cantons. The cantons are comprised of approximately 3000 communes. A central or federal government links the cantons into one unified country, but this central government controls only those affairs which are of interest to all the cantons. These matters of common interest include foreign policy, national defense, federal railways and the mint. All other issues " education, labor, economic and welfare policies and so on " are determined by the governments of the cantons and communes. Each canton has its own parliament and constitution and they differ substantially from one another. The communes, which vary in size from a few hundred to more than a million people, also have their own legislative and executive councils. The cantonal and communal governments are elected by the citizens resident in their areas of jurisdiction. " Advantages of Decentralization " Embraces Diversity. One important reason for this de-centralization of power in Switzerland is that, unlike most European countries, Switzerland is made up of several different major ethnic groups " Germans, French, Italians, and Rhaeto-Romansch. Over the centuries, whenever conflicts have arisen between these language groups, and between Catholics and Protestants, the Swiss have resolved the conflict by allowing each of the warring groups to govern themselves. Thus single cantons have divided into half-cantons, new cantons have been formed and border communes have opted to leave one canton to join another. In this way the Swiss have developed a system which permits people of different languages, cultures, religions and traditions to live together in peace and harmony. This makes the Swiss system particularly well suited to ethnically-divided countries. Maximizes Competition Among Policies. Because so many decisions are made at the local level, the Swiss are closely involved with the laws and regulations which affect their lives " and because each canton is different, they are also able to see for themselves which policies work best. For example, one canton might have high taxes and expensive welfare programs, while another might opt for low taxes and private charity. Each Swiss citizen can then decide which policy suits him best and "vote with his feet" by moving to the canton which he finds the most attractive. The result is that good policies tend to drive out bad. " Federal Government " The national parliament consists of two houses: the popular house, which is elected by proportional representation under a system of free lists which allows all shades of political opinion to be expressed; and the Council of States, which has two representatives from each canton and one from each half-canton, is elected in most cases by a simple majority. The federal government's jurisdiction is limited to those areas specified in the constitution. Once approved by both houses, new legislation is also subject to approval by the people in an optional referendum. The citizens have a six-month period during which a referendum can be called by any individual or group able to obtain 50,000 signatures on a petition. If the proposed legislation is rejected by a simple majority vote, it falls away. " Constitutional Amendments " Should the central government wish to pass legislation regarding matters not allowed by the constitution, a constitutional amendment is required. Consequently, much new legislation takes the form of amendments that can be proposed by the central government or by popular initiative. Any amendment proposed by the government must be approved by a simple majority of the people in a national referendum. All amendments require the approval of voters in a majority of the cantons. Public-interest groups play an important role at the national level because they are able to launch referenda to block legislation they oppose. Consequently the cabinet lobbies the interest groups instead of interest groups lobbying the government, as happens in most countries. This is one important way in which the people, and not the politicians control government in Switzerland. " Taxation and Spending " The federal government, cantons and communities all levy their own taxes. Each level collects about one-third of total government revenues, which in all comprise approximately 26% of GNP. Most taxes are direct and low. The average Swiss citizen pays about 16% of his income in taxes, and average company taxes are about 20% of profits. Switzerland's national debt and inflation rate are low. Total government spending for all three levels has averaged only 22.6% of GNP since 1946, yet expenditure on welfare and education per capita is high. This is because government revenues are spent effectively rather than wasted on a bloated bureaucracy. " Direct Democracy " The popular vote reflects public opinion accurately, ensures that elected representatives remain accountable, reduces the importance of party politics, focuses attention on specific issues, acts as a barometer of controversy, and encourages politicians to be fellow participants in the law-making process. Direct democracy takes two main forms: the referendum is the process whereby the people accept or reject new laws, and the initiative is the process by which citizens can themselves propose new measures. There are two types of referendum in common use: the obligatory referendum which must be held on all proposed constitutional amendments, and the optional referendum which permits new laws to be put to the popular vote provided a number of citizens sign a petition requesting the vote. Any group that wishes to launch an initiative has a specified period of time in which to collect the requisite number of signatures. Voting in Switzerland generally takes place at least four times a year, usually on Sundays. Decisions made by popular ballot may not be overruled by the courts. The Swiss system has served the ethnically diverse people of that country well for over 700 years. The rest of the world could learn from the example set in this mountain country and adopt similar systems of citizen-based government. - End - It is economically and socially desirable for Nigeria to remain one country. However, in order to have peaceful political integration Nigeria should emulate the Swiss Cantonal Model because it is proven to work for a multi-lingual and multi-religious society. We should also allow the implementation of this system of government time to work before declaring it unworkable. If the Swiss model is adopted each linguistic group in Nigeria would need to decide with which neighboring linguistic group it wishes to join to form a local government (based on population size); neighboring local governments can decide to join together to form cantons or states. The reverse can also occur. The parameters for effecting this would be defined in the constitution with regards to proportion of votes to effect referendums. In order for our union to work, sections of Nigeria with richer resources would need to be willing to magnanimously share their resources over a period of time (say, over the next 30 to 50 years) over which state economic autonomy would increase. This would allow each state sufficient time to develop its local resources and diversify its economy. As Nigerians, we would all be able to reside and migrate to anywhere in Nigeria as we do today. Local governments in cosmopolitan areas like Lagos and Abuja would naturally be grouped to a greater degree along class as opposed to linguistic lines hence their governments would be more cosmopolitan and reflect the ethnic diversity of the local population. Hence, our social structure will not change, our economic structure would improve dramatically, while our political structure becomes stable.