“Strengthen the concept of civil duty”
The public service could either take the form of classic military service or equivalent public works on a militia basis. This would cover areas like disaster prevention, food security and care provision – where volunteers, family members, and people doing civilian service currently do much of the heavy lifting. “We want to strengthen the concept of civic duty,” says 36-year-old campaign coordinator Noémie Roten. This includes greater recognition of voluntary work. “Young women fail to grasp why they should, for example, do an unpaid care internship while their male counterparts receive monetary compensation from the state for doing civilian service.” In a militia system, men and women would receive equal treatment, including regarding remuneration.
Opposition across the political spectrum
Policymakers in Berne are sceptical of the proposal, with the Green Liberals the only party in favour. Left-wing politicians reject the equality argument and bemoan what they view as the mandatory nature of the scheme, saying that it is the wrong way to go about strengthening community engagement.
Politicians on the right oppose the initiative because they fear it will weaken the military. Roten herself did military service after leaving school. She drove an army truck. “We are not anti-military,” she counters. There are still many young people who will want to opt for military service, she believes. The initiative also aims to shore up defence and civil protection. “To bolster security, we need the armed forces and the civilian population to be partners.” Young people would come together from various regions and walks of life, contributing – in Roten’s words – to “greater solidarity, responsibility and cohesion across the linguistic and social divide”.
“To bolster security, we need the armed forces and the civilian population to be partners.”
Noémie Roten, Co-author of the initiative
The Public opinion: fairly open minded
The authors of the initiative will now try to convince the electorate and the cantons of their idea in time for the 30 November vote. They can take encouragement from the latest results of an annual study by ETH Zurich, which evaluates public opinion on foreign, security and defence policy issues in Switzerland. In the 2025 survey, two thirds of respondents were generally in favour of a universal form of mandatory public service for men and women as well as people being free to choose between military service, civilian service and community work.
There were no up-to-date opinion polls at the time of our editorial deadline. Facing broad-based opposition and limited funding, however, the authors of the initiative will have a difficult job to convince voters.
We will review the popular votes of 28 September 2025 in the next edition of our magazine.
Overview of the votes on 30 November
Public service for all: The aim of this initiative is that all citizens do public service for the benefit of the community and the environment – whether this be in the military or civilian context (see main text).
National inheritance tax: This initiative foresees a 50 per cent tax on inheritances and endowments worth 50 million francs or more, with the proceeds going to fund the fight against climate change (see Should the super-rich bankroll the fight against climate change?).
Comments