Should Switzerland have a parliament for young people?

Moves are afoot to create a new national youth parliament in Switzerland. The time has come to empower young people in politics, argues Jonas Hirschi, head of a new group for the Swiss Federation of Youth Parliaments. In Switzerland there are 66 youth parliaments at the local and cantonal level. Although in many cases they are organised differently, they have a common denominator: engagement by young people for young people on political themes and for causes that are of concern to the young. At the national level, a comparable institutionalised form of political participation – well integrated in the political process and providing many young people with the opportunity to participate directly – is lacking. The umbrella organisation Swiss Federation of Youth Parliaments wants to change this with the establishment of a national youth parliament. Particularly Switzerland, with its traditions of direct democracy and non-professional, “militia” politics, ...