Origin by
Albert Welti and Wilhelm Balmer The
Landsgemeinde assembly is a tradition with continuity back to the later Middle Ages, first recorded in the context of the
formation of the Old Swiss Confederacy. The tradition ultimately continues the
Germanic thing, although not uninterruptedly, as the
Alamanni had lost their independence to the
Frankish Empire in the 8th century but re-emerging in territories with
imperial immediacy since the 13th century. The first
Landsgemeinde proper is attested for
Uri in 1231; however, these early assemblies grew seamlessly out of the older institution of
blood courts (assemblies with the purpose of dispensing judgement on criminal offenses, see
high justice). The
Middle Latin texts when recording a
Landsgemeinde usually express this by making
universitas "the universality", or
communitas hominum "the community of men" of a certain canton the subject of a sentence (see, for example, the
Federal Charter of 1291), in order to emphasize that the decision was made by the community (
direct democracy) rather than by a political elite. In the
Old Swiss Confederacy, the existence of a
Landsgemeinde was the defining feature of the rural cantons (
Länderorte, as opposed to the city-cantons). These Cantons were:
Uri,
Schwyz,
Unterwalden (the
forest-cantons),
Glarus and
Appenzell and
Zug. Zug took an intermediate position, as it was a city-canton which due to the existence of a
Landsgemeinde was also counted under the rural cantons. With the formation of
Switzerland as a federal state, the formerly sovereign cantonal assemblies became subject to federal law, and the
Landsgemeinden came to be seen as anachronisms.
Evolution and current situation , Uri in 1927 The usage of the
Landsgemeinde was progressively abandoned at the cantonal level through the 19th and 20th century.
Zug and
Schwyz jettisoned it in 1848, followed by
Uri in 1928.
Nidwalden in 1996,
Appenzell Ausserrhoden in 1997 and
Obwalden in 1998 abolished their cantonal
Landsgemeinde by
secret ballot votes. Currently,
Appenzell Innerrhoden, which rejected in 1991 by
Landsgemeinde the abolition of this institution, and
Glarus are the only remaining cantons to use this form of direct democracy. Beside the 1991 vote of
Appenzell Innerrhoden, the usage of the
Landsgemeinde has since then never been questioned in these two cantons, which suggests that citizens are attached to their institution. Moreover, turnout rates remained constant in the last 50 years both in
Appenzell Innerrhoden and in
Glarus. In the latter canton a participation record of 50% was even recorded in 2001. Likewise, each year on the day of the
Landsgemeinde, participants can use all public transportation in the canton for free. In
Appenzell Innerrhoden and
Glarus, the modernization of the institution, for example through the potential introduction of electronic vote-counting systems is debated, but no political party is opposed to the maintenance of the
Landsgemeinden. Likewise, the urban municipality of
Kloten implemented in 2012 a version of the
Landsgemeinde to deliberate on the allocation of funds to local projects, which enabled for example the construction of a new Kindergarten. ==Related political paradigms and criticisms==