DOKTORSKA DEZERTACIJA

1971 Finally on February, 7th women's right to vote is accepted in Switzerland with a majority of 621,109 (66%) yes vs. 323,882 (34%) no. But in central and eastern Switzerland there are still seven cantons with a no-majority. Four more cantons introduce women's right to vote on cantonal and local level by referendums: Fribourg, Schaffhausen, Zug and Aargau.

While the majority of cantons introduced women's right to vote shortly before or shortly after the confederation did in 1971, two conservative half-cantons in eastern Switzerland, Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Appenzell Innerrhoden refused to do so for a long time. During the 1980's pressure of public opinion increased. The men of Appenzell Ausserrhoden thought it might be better to change their laws themselves and they did so in 1989. But in Appenzell Innerrhoden nothing changed.

Neither the first written constitution (Helvetic Republic (1798)) nor the 1848 Federal Constitution had been really explicit about the question whether the word "citizen" was to be interpreted only concerning men or whether it would include women too (as it obviously did in other fields). For a long time it was generally accepted, that the tradition should be changed only after an explicit referendum. But when the men of Appenzell Innerrhoden gave signs that they would still not accept what was long overdue some women filed suit for their right to vote and they succeeded.

The Federal Supreme Court decided on November, 27th, 1990 that the introduction of women's right to vote in Appenzell Innerroden would not need a change of the cantonal constitution. The judges declared that it would be sufficient to interpret the existing constitution in a way that the women were included in the term citizens. The Federal Supreme Court refered in its argumentation to article 8 of the Federal Constitution that had been altered in a 1981 national referendum so that it now grants equal rights not only to all citizens (as in the 1848 original version), but expressly to men and women.