Citizens and Institutions in view of the Digitalization of Democracy in Switzerland

The exercise of political rights in direct democracy presupposes that those entitled to vote can freely form their will. Among the sources for the formation of their will, newspaper articles and the Federal Council's official explanations of voting have so far played a major role. With digitalisation, social media are increasingly coming into focus. Little is known today about the extent to which information and disinformation actually influence the democratic decision-making process of voters in the social media. It is equally questionable whether - regardless of the actual support for social media by the voters - the decision-making of the voters is influenced by the reporting of potential fake news campaigns etc. alone. Both questions are to be examined more closely in a study commissioned by TA Swiss. On the basis of the findings, recommendations for action will then be developed, which will be addressed directly to the legislator.

The study will be led by gfs.bern; the legal analysis will be conducted by Prof. Dr. Nadja Braun Binder. She is supported by Ms. Manuela Kälin.

The results are published here:

Bieri, Urs/Weber, Edward/Braun Binder, Nadja/Salerno, Sébastien/Keller, Tobias/Kälin, Manuela: Digitalisierung der Schweizer Demokratie. Technologische Revolution trifft auf traditionelles Meinungsbildungssystem, TA-SWISS Publikationsreihe: TA 75/2021, Zurich 2021