Langsgemeinde Glarus, Switzerland

The Swiss cantons of Appenzell, Glarus and Unterwalden do not hold elections and voting as practiced in the rest of Switzerland and most countries in the Western world, but have maintained an old, traditional form of democracy known as the “Landsgemeinde”. This is an outdoor assembly of all citizens entitled to vote, who by a show of hands, can make decisions on laws and tasks which are to be carried out (or not) by the cantonal government. In Canton Glarus, the assembly is always held in Glarus, the cantonal capital, on the first Sunday in May. These gatherings are a colourful and spectacular occasion, as the photographs below illustrate.