本文首先指出不同意義之公投一元、排他性格以及其背後隱含預設之相應的同質性人民概念；並進一步強調，公投之一元性格與隱含之相應的同質性人民理念，使得公投在民主國家之運作可能造成多數壓迫少數之結果，形成多數暴政。在獨裁國家，公投民主更因此質變為「直接訴諸人民認可之民主」，甚至淪為對獨裁者喝采之工具。。藉此討論，本文希望能與瑞士之公投相關制度及其運作所蘊含展現之意義形成明顯對照。按瑞士雖然是由多元種族、語言、宗教等組成的國家，但卻由於，存在一為「協和式融合與互惠共生」之精神與文化所聯結凝聚的包容性人民概念，瑞士公投之一元、排他性格因此為之淡化。瑞士之公投甚少造成少數權利受壓制的結果；反之，公投經常成為少數表達其價值、利益，並藉此迫使政府妥協、讓步之工具，甚至是促成瑞士協和式權力共享體系的重要機制。多元種族、語言之瑞士顯示了直接民主可能成為一整合的力量。直接民主機制可以說是解釋瑞士穩定民主之一項重要因素。
This paper shows that referenda have some different kinds of unitary, exclusive characters which impliedly presuppose corresponding homogeneous concepts of a people. Therefore, the use of referenda is more likely to lead to the tyranny of the majourity and harm the civil rights of minority groups. Autocratic rulers even turn referendum democracy into plebiscitarian democracy or use referenda as devices of acclamation for themselves. By contrast, the Swiss, composed of sufficient diverse societal groupings (race, language, religion, etc.), are a people of inclusion united by a culture of “consociational integration and mutualism” that’s deeply rooted in his history. The Swiss embrace diversity of various sorts of groupings. In Switzerland, minorities are not only tolerated. They are favored. The existence of such a people of inclusion has important effects on the use of referenda. Referenda’s unitary, exclusive characters are moderated in Switzerland. Popular votes were seldomly used to curtail the rights or the status of minorities. Minority groups even usually exploit referenda to express their voices and compel the government to compromise its policies. Moreover, Switzerland’s consociational regime has been partly shaped by minority’s exploitations of referenda. Multilingual Switzerland seems (still) to prove that direct democracy is integrative force. Indeed, Direct-democracy instruments are one important factor explaining Switzerland’s stable democracy.
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