What the Swiss referendum teaches about liberalism – HuffPost
This article was originally published in HuffPost Italia. It reflects on the recent Swiss referendum on the public broadcasting fee and what the result reveals about the liberal approach to the role of the state.
Read the full article on the HuffPost.
What the Swiss referendum teaches about liberalism
Many observers across Europe were surprised when Swiss voters rejected a proposal to significantly reduce the national broadcasting fee. The referendum suggested lowering the annual contribution from 335 to 200 Swiss francs and exempting businesses entirely. In practice, this would have meant cutting roughly 40 percent of the public broadcaster’s resources. Yet 62 percent of voters said no.
At first glance, the result seems paradoxical. Switzerland is widely known for its fiscal discipline and its strong culture of limited government. Why would such a country choose to maintain a relatively high public broadcasting fee? The answer offers an important lesson about liberalism.
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Liberalism is often misunderstood as a doctrine of automatic state reduction. In reality, it is a method of evaluating when public intervention is justified and when it risks undermining freedom, competition, and innovation.
The Swiss debate reflected exactly this balance.
Supporters of the reduction used arguments familiar to many liberals: the need to limit the size of the state, reduce costs for households and businesses, and prevent public broadcasters from becoming too dominant in the media market. Opponents, however, argued that the proposed cut was simply too drastic.
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Switzerland is not a typical media market. It is a country with four national languages and relatively small regional audiences. Providing news, cultural programming, and public debate in German, French, Italian, and Romansh is not merely a media service. It is part of the country’s democratic infrastructure.
For many voters, the risk of weakening that infrastructure outweighed the benefits of an immediate reduction.
The real lesson is that liberalism does not operate through ideological reflexes. It does not defend the state by default, but neither does it dismantle it automatically.
Instead, it asks a simple question: does a public function create value for society, and is its cost proportionate to the benefits?
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In Switzerland, the debate is far from over. The government has already signaled a gradual reduction of the fee in the coming years. Pressure for efficiency will remain.
But the referendum highlights something often missing in European politics: the ability to debate the role of the state without turning it into an ideological battle.
Not abolish everything.
Not defend everything.
Discuss, experiment, adjust.
That is exactly how a liberal democracy should work.
