peace in middle-earth
There are regular theoretical proposals these days of replacing elected officials with technocrats who fill the job-profile. In Switzerland on the other hand, the councilors, elected by parliament, are often referred to as technocrats already today.
Maybe because unlike being president of a country, to be head of a department and member of the federal council, implicates more technocratic work and less delegation in general terms. Plus, the other members of the council want to be persuaded by a new law to be proposed to parliament and people or the toughness of a regulation to be introduced and so to win that fourth councilors that would make a majority inside the collegial executive, what it takes is often facts and logic reasoning, efforts at persuasion.
This disadvantages under the collegial rule the populist who wants to keep things simple in public and intellectual in private, a double-life possible under presidential rule with loyal ministers, but impossible with the opponent party sitting at the same table. Impossible to control his or her anxiousness, a populist councilor couldn't resist calling up the people for a cause to win over the majority in the council.
Whether it is to prevent such drama, that the Swiss parliamentarians mostly elect technocrats is not sure to me. I suspect especially the centrists want to stay in power of the possible populist energy in a country to be able to bring through compromises in front of the people. And so should the right or the left call up on populist rhetoric and win votes with it, can the center always switch sides for an election of the federal councilors to keep the balance of power, electing rather a "weak" technocrat from the other side, than allow the populist come to ( or stay in ) power.
It's what makes the centrists appear hypocrite and generally only those who are persuaded by their mission, keeping the left and right united, vote for them. Otherwise, the citizens vote for their most urgent causes or most promising leaders and political parties, from right to left, to make a point, to cast a ballot : free !
...
...
o7-july-2o2o
