In short: In the 2010s and 2020s, 97% of parliamentary proposals are accepted. Pure popular initiatives pass 31% of the time. In between stands the counter-proposal – successful 70% of the time.

What happens when the city of Zurich votes on its own affairs? Not on federal ballots, not on cantonal laws – but on its own budgets, regulations, and initiatives.

Context
Municipal votes in the city of Zurich follow three channels. Parliamentary proposals: The city council (Gemeinderat, 125 seats) approves budgets, regulations, or construction projects. Above a certain amount or in case of a referendum, the public votes. Popular initiatives: Come directly from citizens and demand a specific change. Counter-proposals: Parliament responds to an initiative with its own draft – often more moderate, offered as an alternative.

Since the 1970s, the relationship between these three channels has shifted.1

Acceptance Rate by Proposal Type per Decade
Municipal votes, city of Zurich. Parl. = Parliamentary, CP = Counter-proposals, PI = Popular initiatives.
1970s Parl.
80% (112)
1980s Parl.
81% (100)
1990s Parl.
83% (90)
2000s Parl.
92% (80)
2010s Parl.
97% (77)
2020s Parl.
97% (63)
2010s CP
69% (13)
2020s CP
69% (13)
1980s PI
27% (37)
2000s PI
0% (7)
2010s PI
36% (11)
2020s PI
45% (11)
Counter-proposals before 2010: only 0–6 per decade. Classification based on ballot text. Source: Open Data City of Zurich.

Parliamentary proposals are rejected less and less often: from 80% acceptance in the 1970s to 97% in the 2010s and 2020s. The few rejections concern large-scale projects (stadium, convention centre) or politically charged topics (all-day schools, council compensation).1

Pure popular initiatives fail more often than not. In the 2000s, not a single one was accepted (0 of 7). Since then, the rate has recovered – to 45% in the 2020s.

In between lies the counter-proposal. Parliament takes up an initiative, drafts its own version – and this version passes about 70% of the time. The instrument is relatively new at this intensity: in the 1990s, there were none. Since the 2010s, there are 13 per decade. Topics: housing, cycling, green spaces, wages. The counter-proposal is the tool through which parliament absorbs popular initiatives and translates them into its own language.

Open Questions
Classification is based on ballot text. For tiebreaker questions (3 since 1990), attribution is ambiguous. The numbers show the dynamic between parliament and voters, not the political direction of the proposals.

  1. Open Data City of Zurich – Vote Results since 1933. Own analysis: 375 municipal proposals of the city of Zurich since 1990 (city-wide results). Classification: “Volksinitiative” or “Initiative” in title = popular initiative, “Gegenvorschlag” in title = counter-proposal, “Stichfrage” = counted separately (3 cases), remainder = parliamentary proposal. ↩︎ ↩︎