Reference no: EM133531295

Case Study: The Swiss democracy is rather different from democracy in the United States (alsosee footnote 5 of this chapter). Switzerland has as direct democracy, which meansthat the people govern directly, not through a representative. Developed and re-fined for over eight hundred years (and in its current form for over one hundredyears), the Swiss democracy has a long tradition. Opinion polls and referendumsdetermine what decisions are to be made-for instance, on a draft of a new oramended law (the drafts are prepared by experts in the administration). In indi-vidual cantons (member states, of which there are twenty-six), budgets are set byreferendum.26 If the majority of the electorate agrees, even the constitution can bechanged. Switzerland's system is considered extremely stable but it also requiresmore involvement from its citizens. Switzerland does have a parliament and politi-cal parties, but constitutional changes (changes in law) cannot take place withoutthe expressed agreement of the people. The Swiss generally tend to vote conser-vatively, but it's noteworthy that they have also favored equal representation ofwomen in parliament and voted against payouts for managers of failing compa-nies (golden parachutes).

Question: What kind of moral character would the ideal citizen have in the Swiss democracy?How about in the United States?Answer these questions both from your own perspective and by applying Aristotle.