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