ederal constitution the principle of the legislative
referendum has been brought to bear upon a not inconsiderable number
of legislative projects. The proportion, indeed, of laws falling
within the range of the system which have been subjected to the
popular vote, while varying widely from time to time, has been not far
from ten per cent; and of the measures actually voted upon several of
importance have been rejected. In all instances the demand has arisen
directly from citizen petitioners, not from the cantonal
governments.[633]

[Footnote 633: On the operation of the optional
referendum see Lowell, Governments and Parties,
II., 252-261. "From 1874 till 1908 the Federal
Assembly passed 261 bills and resolutions which
could constitutionally be subjected to the
referendum. Thirty of these 261 were actually voted
on by the people, who ratified eleven and rejected
nineteen of them. The effect of the federal
optional legislative referendum was, then, to hold
up a little more than seven per cent of the
statutory output of the Federal Assembly." W. E.
Rappard, in _American Political Science Review_,
Aug., 1912, 357. On the most recent exercise of the
federal referendum (the adoption, February 4, 1912,
of a national Accident and Sickness Insurance bill)
see M. Turmann, Le referendum suisse du 4
fevrier--la loi federale sur l'assurance-maladie et
l'assurance accident, in _Le Correspondant_, Feb.
10, 1912. This particular referendum was called for
by 75,000 voters. The measure submitted was
approved by a vote of 287,566 to 241,416, on a poll
of 63.04 per cent of the registered electorate.]

*476. The Obligatory Referendum: Constitutional Amendments.*--In its
application to laws and resolutions the referendum is optional; in
application to constitutional amendments it is obligatory. Revision of
the Swiss constitution may be accomplished at any time, in whole or in
part, and in a variety of modes. In the event that the legislative
councils are able to agree upon a scheme of revision they vote the
adoption of the propo