In Switzerland, authorities go to the local population and ask what they want on such matters.

Judge as of July 2017 the claim that Swiss governance asks local populations what they want, i.e. local consultation and direct democracy. True: Switzerland routinely puts matters to local or cantonal populations through referendums, initiatives, communal assemblies (Gemeindeversammlung/Landsgemeinde) or formal consultation procedures (Vernehmlassung), so that local residents decide or are consulted on local matters. Mostly true: this broadly holds, but the description is somewhat simplified (e.g. consultation is formal and institutional rather than authorities literally 'going to' people, or it covers many but not all matters). Mixed: such consultation exists for some kinds of matters but not for the kind referred to. Mostly false: Swiss practice includes some direct democracy, but the claim greatly overstates how far local preferences are sought. False: Swiss authorities do not consult local populations in this way.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 Local Participation in Large-Scale Projects: The Various Ways of Influencing the Decision-Making Process in Switzerland Springer (book chapter) · 19 August 2023

   “With regard to spatial planning processes, information and formal consultation with the local residents are mandatory.”

2. E2 Switzerland Springer (book chapter) · 20 February 2024

   “The rest of the municipalities have a municipal assembly called the Gemeindeversammlung—this is a gathering or meeting of all citizens entitled to vote, and represents a form of direct democracy in the tradition of Rousseau and the ancient Greeks.”

3. E3 Switzerland Springer (book chapter) · 20 February 2024

   “Other forms of participatory democracy, such as participatory planning, open dialogues with citizens, and citizen polls, do take place, but they are institutionalised only to a minor extent, usually in terms of a general legal stipulation that those who are affected by a new act should be consulted for their views.”

4. E4 Switzerland - Monitoring report Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe (monitoring report) · 20 October 2017

   “The rapporteurs note, however, that the municipalities are never directly consulted on an individual basis by the Confederation authorities, although they are able to submit their observations and opinions through the intermediary of the cantons”

Independent academic sources say formal consultation of local residents is mandatory in Swiss spatial planning (E1). They also say that, outside municipalities with other arrangements, municipalities hold a Gemeindeversammlung, a meeting of all citizens entitled to vote that represents a form of direct democracy (E2). Both sources were published after 2017. Two points qualify the claim: participatory forms beyond voting are institutionalised only to a minor extent (E3), and federal authorities never consult municipalities directly on an individual basis, although municipalities can submit views through the cantons (E4). So the general idea of asking local populations what they want holds, but the wording is simplified, which fits "mostly true" under the criteria.