Democracy Today.indb - Universidade do Minho

has invested great capitals in the research on applied biotechnology.
The prestigious ETH Zürich, one of the greatest beneficiaries of
these investments and a key actor in Swiss debate usually shares and
defends the opinions of the company. A high alarm about GMO will
influence very negatively the allocation of public and private founds
to the biotechnological research.
On the other side of the barricade, the Union of Swiss Farmers
considers the reject of GMO plants as a mark of distinction and quality
of Swiss products. One of the first strategies in their fight against
GMO plants was the creation of the Suisse garantie labels in 2004.
The renunciation to the employ of gen techniques is a sine qua non
requisite for national and regional products, which benefits from a
great national costumers’ trust.
Consumers associations are also highly concerned about technological
evolution and their hypothetical risks. All the political parties
made their own statements about the matter. The complexity of the
Swiss federal system, in which very important rights to vote in referendum
or promote a popular initiative are accorded to citizens, is
one of the main causes of the great diversity of opinions between the
parties and also inside the parties (CVP, SVP,…). That is why the Green
Party, introducer of the popular initiative plays a key role but doesn’t
monopolize the creation of public opinion in Switzerland.
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FEDERALISM, DIRECT
DEMOCRACY AND THE
QUALITY OF PUBLIC
DELIBERATION: THE
GMO DEBATE
José Luis Egío
9. GMO Plants in Saint Galler Tagblatt
• First regional newspaper in Eastern Switzerland. Daily circulation:
99.000.
• Presence of local editorial offices in 11 towns of the region.
• Less dependent on national and international press agencies than La
Opinión or El Periódico.
• Period of news’ compilation: 2004-11 March 2010.
• Key word of the research: gentechnisch, gentechnologie.
• http://www.tagblatt.ch/suche/