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Voluntary preparation course for the naturalisation test in canton Aargau. <\/p>\n
Keystone \/ Gaetan Bally <\/p>\n
The Democracy Initiative proposes easing access to Swiss citizenship. It also exposes a stark contrast within Swiss democracy: the system imposes restrictive citizenship rules on immigrants, while offering extensive political rights to the Swiss Abroad.\n<\/p>\n
This content was published on <\/p>\n
June 16, 2026 – 09:00\n<\/p>\n
The House of Representatives and the government have both come out clearly against the Democracy Initiative. The popular initiative aims to make Swiss citizenship more accessible to immigrants and standardise naturalisation procedures.<\/p>\n
The initiative is backed by left-wing parties as well as people with immigrant backgrounds. Their demand is straightforward: foreign nationals with no criminal record who have lived in Switzerland for five years and have a basic knowledge of one national language should be entitled to Swiss citizenship. Without citizenship, foreign nationals in Switzerland cannot vote in elections or referendums. <\/p>\n
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The organisers submitted the signatures for the Democracy Initiative in November 2024. <\/p>\n
Keystone \/ Peter Klaunzer <\/p>\n
More than a quarter of the population is \u201cexcluded from democracy\u201d, argues Aktion Vierviertel, the committee behind the initiative.<\/p>\n
A model based on descent or place of origin<\/p>\n
The initiative also raises a broader question about how Switzerland should award citizenship. Swiss law is based on descent, which means children with at least one Swiss parent become Swiss citizens. This is known as ius sanguinis, or the right of blood.<\/p>\n
The Democracy Initiative would add a citizenship model based on birthplace or residence. People could become Swiss if they live in Switzerland or were born there. This principle, known as ius soli, or the right of the soil, is common in countries shaped by immigration, including the US, Canada, Australia and parts of South America.<\/p>\n
The debate around the Democracy Initiative has also drawn attention to the rights of Swiss citizens living abroad. \u201cWhy are the Swiss Abroad still allowed to vote in Switzerland, even though they have lived abroad for decades?\u201d asks Alec von Graffenried, a Green Party politician and former mayor of Bern, who supports the initiative. On the other hand, he argues, foreign nationals living in Switzerland can be denied voting rights for decades.<\/p>\n
An attack on dual citizenship<\/p>\n
While the initiative does not seek to restrict the political rights of the Swiss Abroad, they have become part of the discussion because there is a striking discrepancy. Switzerland excludes much of its foreign population from participating in the democratic process, while giving its diaspora broad political rights.<\/p>\n
Dual citizenship has also come under fire in the debate. In reaction to the initiative\u2019s campaign, the right-wing Swiss People\u2019s Party has called for naturalised citizens to be allowed to hold only Swiss citizenship in future. It is the party\u2019s first concrete step against dual citizenship, an issue it has long opposed. Three in four Swiss Abroad hold dual citizenship. They may not be directly affected yet, but they are watching every attack on dual citizenship closely.<\/p>\n
Around 840,000 Swiss citizens live abroad. To take part in Switzerland\u2019s democratic process, they can simply register to vote when they reach voting age.<\/p>\n
By contrast, 2.5 million foreign nationals live in Switzerland and, at least at federal level, have no say in referendums or elections.<\/p>\n
For the backers of the Democracy Initiative, the main issue is that a strikingly large share of Switzerland\u2019s permanent resident population has no political rights. A quarter of the population pays taxes and lives with the consequences of political decisions, so they should also participate in democracy, supporters say.<\/p>\n
This issue has been simmering for several years. In 2016 the University of Lucerne warned of a \u201cworrying democratic deficit\u201d in SwitzerlandExternal link<\/a>. Researchers there developed the Immigration Integrations Index to illustrate the problem. The index showed that Switzerland restricts immigrants\u2019 political participation more than most other countries, placing it second from last in Europe.<\/p>\n This low level of participation has repeatedly drawn criticism<\/a> from democratic theory scholars. The academic consensus is that the more inclusive a democracy is, the better the quality of its decisions.<\/p>\n Pressure is building<\/p>\n Ten years ago, Lucerne researchers described the \u201cparticularly strong exclusivity\u201d of Swiss democracy as nothing new. Women in Switzerland, they noted, had also been excluded from the electorate for much longer than in other countries (they didn\u2019t get the vote at federal level until 1971). \u201cUnlike with women\u2019s suffrage, however, there is still almost no internal pressure to include immigrants.\u201d The initiative has now created that pressure.<\/p>\n The Swiss government also commissioned a studyExternal link<\/a> in 2024 comparing Swiss naturalisation procedures with those in other European countries. The report confirmed that foreign nationals seeking Swiss citizenship face particularly high barriers.<\/p>\n Across much of Europe, foreign nationals can apply for citizenship after five years of residence. The average across Europe is 6.9 years. In Switzerland, they must wait ten years.<\/p>\n \n More<\/p>\n More <\/p>\n Swiss Politics\n <\/p>\n Golden passport? Certain groups struggle to obtain Swiss citizenship <\/p>\n This content was published on <\/p>\n May 23, 2024 <\/p>\n Well-educated and well-off immigrants are pulling ahead when it comes to getting the passport, a new study shows. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read more: Golden passport? Certain groups struggle to obtain Swiss citizenship Switzerland is also far more selective than most European countries when it comes to second-generation immigrants. In many countries, people born in their country of residence have relatively easy access to citizenship. Switzerland, by contrast, requires them to go through an elaborate procedure to obtain citizenship. This helps explain the country\u2019s low naturalisation rate of 1.9%, compared with a European average of 2.6%.<\/p>\n How Swiss citizenship is inherited abroad<\/p>\n The right to citizenship also brings far-reaching political rights. Fourth-, fifth- and subsequent-generation descendants of emigrants can still participate in Swiss democracy decades after their families have left the country. From the third generation onwards, descendants of emigrants must actively request Swiss citizenship, but there are few substantive obstacles.<\/p>\n \n More<\/p>\n More <\/p>\n Swiss Diaspora\n <\/p>\n Thousands of emigrants\u2019 descendants in Argentina demand Swiss citizenship <\/p>\n This content was published on <\/p>\n Jan 9, 2025 <\/p>\n Even those born abroad inherit Swiss citizenship. However, thousands of descendants of Swiss nationals who emigrated have lost it. A petition now wants to change this. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read more: Thousands of emigrants\u2019 descendants in Argentina demand Swiss citizenship This generous approach has also drawn comment from the Swiss Abroad themselves. In a Swissinfo debate<\/a>, one reader wrote: \u201cThe Swiss would do well to adopt Ireland\u2019s approach to citizenship abroad: up to three generations of foreign birth registration and that\u2019s it.\u201d <\/p>\n \u2018Citizenship as something sacred\u2019<\/p>\n![\"cover](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/542581827_highres.jpg\")
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