Effects of fuzzy voting on citizen participation: Empirical evidence from Switzerland

The proof of the pudding is in the eating, so is the application of fuzzy voting methods. In the context of real decision-making situations in Switzerland, two different projects have evaluated the use, acceptance and effects of fuzzy (i.e., scale-based or flexible) voting. The first examined the behavior of 1,872 voters in a referendum in the canton of Basel-City. The second project proposed a solution for a large-scale democratic decision-making process using fuzzy logic and linguistic expressions, based on systemic consensus. The method was used to resolve a conflict-generating traffic problem in Geuensee, a municipality in the Swiss canton of Lucerne. The paper presents the projects and the main findings of the evaluations. Although located at different state levels, using different methods and related to different objects, both projects conclude that voting which also handles citizens' inclinations towards clear acceptance or rejection has positive effects on the participation and engagement of citizens, especially with regard to groups that have not previously participated in the political process.