>the balance of power in this public, shared space is highly tilted
I dont really buy that. People have all of the power, and all the control the space. The real barrier in my mind is voter apathy and indifference.
Switzerland has a politically engaged population and strong referendum system. People vote like 5-6 times a year referendums on issues exactly like this
That may be also true, but I'd say Switzerland is an outlier in this regard.
Quite often the apathy is a direct result of years of historical events where voting doesn't change anything i.e. not living in proper democracy or if so, the process tilted in a way than the vote is often wasted (for example relatively high election threshold) or often citizen initiatives (gather x thousands signatures) being voted down by the current government...
Unfortunately making vote obligatory would not "fix" the problem as coertion to vote would make people even more annoyed and they would vote out of spite…
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On the other hand, money can influence people into voting certain way even if it's not in their best interest (good example is Brexit vote…)
I dont really buy that. People have all of the power, and all the control the space. The real barrier in my mind is voter apathy and indifference.
Switzerland has a politically engaged population and strong referendum system. People vote like 5-6 times a year referendums on issues exactly like this