Democracy Today.indb - Universidade do Minho

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DEMOCRACY TODAY
taking into account other elements of the political systems. The nature
of their public sphere and the conditions and instruments of formation
of public opinion in such systems is perhaps as important for the
democratic nature of the whole system as the local-central division of
political tasks and rights. In fact, what would be the democratic role
of a citizen or interest group in a federal system where they can hardly
communicate? Our work can only show little signs of how insignificant
and superficial public debates can be when a federal system lack of
instruments allowing the real interaction of individual citizens, local
and regional groups.
As we saw, Spanish regional press presents great differences in the
way the GMO debate is set out. El Periódico and La Opinión offered a
very different perspective about GMO cultivations and that is, obviously,
a result from the division of political competences in Spanish
federal system, a division which allows the existence of very different
regional public spheres
The Swiss federal system goes on in the promotion of plurality
in public sphere. Our paper offers some irrefutable facts that link the
specific direct democratic rights of Swiss citizens to the good quality
of public debates about irreconcilable matters like the GMO debate.
In order to conclude, we can state that even if, in the last years,
other countries have also created federal structures (Spain, Germany,
India, Belgium,…), Swiss federalism, due to the rights of referendum and
popular initiative granted to their citizens has still particular deliberative
qualities. In our opinion, these qualities are extremely important if
we take into account the key role of public information and discussion
to guarantee the democratic nature of highly complex societies.
The philosophical implications of that problem should be still
discussed. As Kant stated in The Conflict of Faculties:
“It is said that a superior power can fairly take our freedom to speak and
to write. But, could we think a lot and good if we were not able to think,
so to say, in community with the others?” [4]
4
Kant, Inmanuel, Der Streit der Fakultäten (1798), English translation by Mary J. Gregor,
New York, Abaris Book, 1979.