REPUBLIQUE
ET CANTON
DE GENEVE

L'HÔTEL DE VILLE,
A LIVING DEMOCRACY

Geneva is one of the 23 sovereign cantons of the Swiss Confederation, with its own constitution, laws and institutions. The term "democracy" is thus by no means a vain word in Geneva where, in addition to the cantonal parliament and executive council, elected every four years by universal suffrage, there are no less 45 other parliaments and governments at commune level - the commune being the smallest political entity of the Federal State - and a similar numbers of administative bodies.

In Geneva, as in the rest of Switzerland, each citizen can request the creation or amendment of a law, and even the constitution, at commune, canton or federal level. For this he or she can start a "popular initiative" which must be supported by an initiative committee. There is also the "parliamentary initiative" (set in motion by a member of parliament) and the "cantonal initiative" launched by a canton. Another democratic right of Swiss citizens is the possibility of calling for a referendum. Thanks to this, the people have the last word when it comes to deciding whether a law adopted by a parliament will come into force or not. The referendum is compulsory in the case of a modification to the constitution or the ratification of an international treaty.