Experiences – Life – Inspiration 🇨🇭🇯🇵

A few days ago, I heard the words “snap election” in the context of Japanese politics. It was mentioned almost casually, as if everyone should already know what that means. I realized that I didn’t. Or at least, I didn’t really understand the mechanism behind it.

Living in Japan, I often come across things that seem normal here but would feel quite unusual in other countries I’ve called home. This was one of those moments. The idea that a prime minister can suddenly decide, “Let’s have an election now,” felt strange. So I did what I usually do when curiosity shows up. I went down a rabbit hole.

This post is the result of that little dive into how snap elections work and why they feel so different depending on whether you look at them from Japan, the Netherlands, or Switzerland.

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What Is a Snap Election, Really?

In simple terms, a snap election is an election that is called earlier than scheduled.

Normally, countries have fixed election cycles. Every four or five years, people vote. That’s the rhythm. A snap election breaks that rhythm. Instead of waiting until the end of the term, the government dissolves parliament early and sends everyone to the polls.

The key point is that this is not an emergency election because the calendar says so. It is a political decision.

In Japan, this is surprisingly normal. The prime minister has the power to dissolve the lower house and call an election when they think the timing is right. Often, this happens when the government is popular and wants to secure a stronger mandate. Sometimes it happens because things are stuck and a reset is needed. But very often, it is simply a strategic move.

That already felt quite different from what I was used to.

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The Netherlands: The Same Thing, But for Different Reasons

When I lived in the Netherlands, I never heard the term “snap election” much. Instead, people talk about vervroegde verkiezingen, early elections.

Functionally, it is the same thing. The country goes to the polls before the normal four year term is over.

But the reason is usually very different.

In the Netherlands, early elections almost always happen because the government collapses. A coalition falls apart. Parties can’t agree anymore. The majority is gone. At that point, there is no real choice. A new election is needed.

So while Japan might call an early election because the timing is convenient, the Netherlands usually does it because the situation has become unavoidable.

Same outcome. Very different spirit.

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Switzerland: A Completely Different World

And then there is Switzerland.

This is probably why the whole concept felt so strange to me in the first place.

In Switzerland, snap elections basically do not exist.

Federal elections happen every four years. Always on schedule. No exceptions.

The government also cannot “collapse” in the way it does in other countries. There is no classic coalition that falls apart. The Federal Council is a collective government made up of several parties, sharing power. There is no single prime minister who can decide to dissolve parliament.

If people are unhappy in Switzerland, they don’t wait for the next election or hope for an early one. They use referendums and popular initiatives. Laws can be blocked. The constitution can be changed. The system is designed for slow, constant correction rather than sudden political resets.

It is stable, predictable, and sometimes painfully slow. But it is also incredibly robust.

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Three Countries, Three Political Temperaments

Looking at these three systems side by side feels a bit like looking at three different personalities.

Japan is flexible and tactical. The political calendar can be bent if it seems useful.

The Netherlands is reactive. The calendar changes mostly when things break.

Switzerland is steady. The calendar does not move, and the people correct the course in other ways.

None of these systems is perfect. Each reflects something deeper about how a society thinks about power, stability, and change.

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Why This Matters (At Least to Me)

What started as a small moment of confusion turned into a reminder of something I keep rediscovering while living in Japan.

You don’t just move to another country. You also move into another way of thinking about how the world should work.

A snap election is not just a technical detail of political systems. It is a window into how a country deals with uncertainty, conflict, and opportunity.

And for someone who grew up Swiss, lived in the Netherlands, and now lives in Japan, it is fascinating to see how differently the same basic question is answered everywhere:

How, and when, should a society decide to start over?