Voting for Freedom: The 2016 Swiss Referendum on Basic Income: A Milestone in the Advancement of Democracy

Switzerland is the first country ever to vote on the implementation of an unconditional basic income. The boundary between those in favor and those opposed runs down the middle of all the familiar camps: Capitalists and socialists, liberals and conservatives, entrepreneurs and unionists either hail this proposal enthusiastically or else they fight against it. The proposal creates new alliances and causes old ones to fall apart. The reason: Unconditional basic income asks the right questions. Daniel Häni and Philip Kovce formulate these questions and precisely work out why the Swiss referendum on basic income is a milestone in the advancement of democracy. "Switzerland will be doing something quite meaningful if it implements unconditional basic income." - Joseph E. Stiglitz, economist "If you are serious about freedom, if you want real freedom for all, then you must argue and fight for an unconditional basic income." - Philippe Van Parijs, philosopher "We need people like these initiators who re-think the matter from the ground up." - Adolf Muschg, author "Whoever reads this book knows that unconditional basic income is closer than ever." - Götz W. Werner, entrepreneur

Daniel Häni is Entrepreneur. He is Co-Founder and CEO of Switzerland's biggest Coffee-House "unternehmen mitte," as well as Co-Initiator of the Swiss popular initiative for an unconditional basic income. The initiative was successfully submitted in 2013, and received media responses worldwide. Philip Kovce is Associated Research Fellow at the Chair of Economics and Philosophy at Witten/Herdecke University, Germany's first private university. He is a member of "tt30," the Club of Rome's young leaders Think Tank, and works for several German newspapers as well as broadcasters.