Swiss People's Party

Swiss People's Party / Democratic Union of the Centre Schweizerische Volkspartei (German) Union Démocratique du Centre (French) Unione Democratica di Centro (Italian) Partida Populara Svizra (Romansh)
"Swiss quality, the party of the middle class"
Leader	Toni Brunner
Founded	22 September 1971
Merger of	BGB and Democratic Party
Headquarters	Brückfeldstrasse 18 CH-3001 Berne
Youth wing	Young SVP
Membership	90,000 (2011)[1]
Ideology	Conservatism[2] National conservatism[2][3] Economic liberalism[3] Isolationism[4]
Political position	Right-wing
International affiliation	None
European affiliation	None
Official colours	Dark Green
National Council	58 / 200
Council of States	6 / 46
Cantonal legislatures	563 / 2,608
Website
www.svp.ch
Politics of Switzerland Political parties Elections

The Swiss People's Party (German: Schweizerische Volkspartei, SVP), also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre (French: Union démocratique du centre, UDC), is a conservative political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Toni Brunner, but spearheaded by Christoph Blocher, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 58 members of the National Council and 6 of the Council of States.

The SVP was founded in 1971 by the merger of the Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents (BGB) and the Democratic Party, while the BGB in turn had been founded on the background of the emerging local farmers' parties in the late 1910s. The SVP initially didn't witness any increased support beyond that of the BGB, remaining at around 11% of the vote through the 1970s and 1980s. This changed however during the 1990s, when the party underwent deep structural and ideological changes under the influence of Christoph Blocher, turning the party to become the strongest party in Switzerland by the 2000s.

In line with the changes led by Blocher, the party started to focus increasingly on issues such as Euroscepticism and opposition to immigration. The SVP currently has 58 seats in the Federal Assembly, and its vote share of 29% in the 2007 Federal Council election was the highest vote ever recorded for a single party in Switzerland.^[5] Following Blocher's failed re-election as Federal Councillor in 2007, moderates within the party split off, forming the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP). The party does not belong to any Europe-wide party, but sits with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in PACE.

History

Background, farmers' parties

The early origins of the SVP goes back to the late 1910s, when numerous cantonal farmers' parties where founded in agrarian, Protestant, German-speaking parts of Switzerland. While the Free Democratic Party had earlier been a popular party for farmers, this changed during World War I when the party had mainly defended the interests of industrialists and consumer circles.^[6] When proportional representation was introduced in 1919, the new farmers' parties won significant electoral support, especially in Zürich and Bern, and eventually also gained representation in parliament and government.^[7] In 1936, a representative party was founded on the national level, called the Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents (BGB). During the 1930s, the BGB entered the mainstream of Swiss politics as a right-wing conservative party in the bourgeois bloc. While the party opposed any kind of socialist ideas such as internationalism and anti-militarism, it sought to represent local Swiss traders and farmers against big business and international capital.^[7]

The BGB contributed strongly to the establishment of the Swiss national ideology known as the Geistige Landesverteidigung (Spiritual Defence of the Nation), which was largely responsible for the growing Swiss sociocultural and political cohesion from the 1930s. In the party's fight against left-wing ideologies, sections of party officials and farmers voiced understanding, or failed to distance themselves from the emerging fascist movements.^[8] After World War II, the BGB contributed to the establishment of the characteristic Swiss post-war consensual politics, social agreements and economic growth policies. The party continued to be a reliable political partner with the Swiss Conservative People's Party and the Free Democratic Party.^[9]

Early years (1971–1980s)

In 1971, the BGB changed its name to the Swiss People's Party (SVP) after it merged with the Democratic Party from Glarus and Graubünden.^[10] The Democratic Party had been supported particularly by workers, and the SVP sought to expand its electoral base towards these, as the traditional BGB base in the rural population had started to lose its importance in the post-war era. As the Democratic Party had represented centrist, social-liberal positions, the course of the SVP shifted towards the political centre following internal debates.^[11] The new party however continued to see its level of support at around 11%, the same as the former BGB throughout the post-war era. Internal debates continued, and the 1980s saw growing conflicts between the Bern and Zürich cantonal branches, where the former branch represented the centrist faction, and the latter looked to put new issues on the political agenda.^[11]

When the young entrepreneur Christoph Blocher was elected president of the Zürich SVP in 1977, he declared his intent to oversee significant change in the political line of the Zürich SVP, bringing an end to debates that aimed to open the party up to a wide array of opinions. Blocher soon consolidated his power in Zürich, and began to renew the organisational structures, activities, campaigning style and political agenda of the local branch.^[12] The young members of the party was boosted with the establishment of a cantonal Young SVP (JSVP) in 1977, as well as political training courses. The ideology of the Zürich branch was also reinforced, and the rhetoric hardened, which resulted in the best election result for the Zürich branch in fifty years in the 1979 federal election, with an increase from 11.3% to 14.5%. This was contrasted with the stable level in the other cantons, although the support also stagnated in Zürich through the 1980s.^[13]

Rise of the new SVP (1990s–present)

The struggle between the SVP's largest branches of Bern and Zürich continued into the early 1990s. While the Bern-oriented faction represented the old moderate style, the Zürich-oriented wing led by Christoph Blocher represented a new radical right-wing populist agenda. The Zürich-wing began to politicise asylum issues, and the question of European integration started to dominate Swiss political debates. The Zürich-wing followingly started to gain ground in the party at the expense of the Bern-wing, and the party became increasingly centralised as a national party, in contrast to the traditional Swiss system of parties with loose organisational structures and weak central powers.^[14] During the 1990s, the party also doubled its number of cantonal branches (to eventually be represented in all cantons), which strengthened the power of the Zürich-wing since most new sections supported their agenda.^[15]

In 1991, the party for the first time became the strongest party in Zürich, with 20.2% of the vote.^[16] The party broke through in the early 1990s in both Zürich and Switzerland as a whole, and experienced dramatically increasing results in elections.^[17] From being the smallest of the four governing parties at the start of the 1990s, the party by the end of the decade emerged as the strongest party in Switzerland.^[18] At the same time, the party expanded its electoral base towards new voter demographics.^[19] The SVP in general won its best results in cantons where the cantonal branches adopted the agenda of the Zürich-wing.^[20] In the 1999 federal election, the SVP for the first time became the strongest party in Switzerland with 22.5% of the vote, a 12.6% share increase. This was the biggest increase of votes for any party in the entire history of the Swiss proportional electoral system, which was introduced in 1919.^[21]

As a result of the remarkable increase in the SVP's popularity, the party gained a second ministerial position in the Federal Council in 2003, which was taken by Christoph Blocher. Before this, the only SVP Federal Councillor had always been from the moderate Bern-wing.^{[note 1][22]} The 2007 federal election still confirmed the SVP as the strongest party in Switzerland with 28.9% of the vote and 62 seats in the National Council, the largest share of the vote for any single party ever in Switzerland.^[23] However, the Federal Council refused to re-elect Blocher, who was replaced by Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf of the moderate Graubünden branch.^[23][24] In response, the national SVP decided to expel both Widmer-Schlumpf and the other Federal Councillor, Samuel Schmid, from the party, along with Widmer-Schlumpf's whole cantonal section.^[23][25] The SVP thus formed the first opposition group in Switzerland since the 1950s,^[23] and in 2008, the two former SVP Federal Councillors joined the newly founded Conservative Democratic Party (BDP), largely centered around Bern.^[25][26] The SVP regained its position in government in late 2008, when Schmid was forced to resign due to a political scandal, and was replaced with Ueli Maurer.^[25][27]

The SVP suffered a significant setback during the 2011 federal election, when it drew 25.9% percent of the vote -- a significant decrease from its gains of 28.9% in 2007.^[28]

Ideology

The SVP's positions in the Swiss political spectrum (2007).

The SVP adheres to national conservatism, aiming at the preservation of Switzerland's political sovereignty and a conservative society. Furthermore, the party promotes the principle of individual responsibility and is skeptical toward any expansion of governmental services. This stance is most evident in the rejection of an accession of Switzerland to the European Union, the rejection of military involvement abroad, and the rejection of increases in government spending on social welfare and education.

The emphases of the party's policies lie in foreign policy, immigration and homeland security policy as well as tax and social welfare policy. Among political opponents, the SVP has gained a reputation as a party that maintains a hard-line stance.

Foreign policy

In its foreign policy the SVP opposes increased involvement of Switzerland in intergovernmental and especially supranational organisations, including the UN, EEA, EU, Schengen and Dublin treaties, and closer ties with NATO. The party stands for a strict neutrality of the country and the preservation of the strong role of the Swiss army as the institution responsible for national defense. The army shall remain a militia force and should never become involved in interventions abroad.

In June and July 2010, the party used the silly season for floating the notion of a "Greater Switzerland", where instead of Switzerland joining the EU, the border regions of Switzerland's neighbours would join Switzerland, submitted in July in the form of a motion to the Federal Council by Dominique Baettig, signed by 26 SVP Councillors.^{[29][30][31][32]} Some, such as newspaper Die Welt, have also speculated that the initiative could be a response to the suggestion by Muammar al-Gaddafi to dissolve Switzerland and divide its territory among its neighbouring countries.^[33]

Immigration

Poster, with the slogan "To Create Security", derived from the SVP's 2007 proposal of a new law which would authorise the deportion of criminal foreigners.^[34][35]

In its immigration policy the party commits itself to make asylum laws stricter and to reduce immigration. The SVP warns of immigration into the social welfare system and criticises the high proportion of foreigners among the public insurance benefit recipients and other social welfare programs. According to the opinion of the party, such benefits amount to waste of taxpayers' money. Numerous SVP members have shown themselves to be critical of Islam by having participated in the minaret controversy, during which they pushed for an initiative to ban the construction of minarets. In November of 2009 this ban won the majority vote (57.5%) and became an amendment to the Swiss Constitution. However, the four existing minarets are not affected by the new legislation.

Another key concern of the SVP is what it alleges is an increasing influence of the judiciary on politics. According to the SVP, this influence, especially through international law, increasingly puts the Swiss direct democracy in question. Public law which is legitimate by direct democracy standards should be agreed upon by the federal court. The international law, which according to the SVP is not democratically legitimate, shall always be subordinate to the Swiss law. The SVP also criticises the judiciary as undemocratic because the courts have made decisions against the will of the majority. Therefore, the SVP promotes the preservation of voting procedures in the question of the naturalization of foreigners even after a federal court ruling deemed such procedures as unconstitutional. According to the SVP, the racism penalty and anti-racism commission should be abolished in the interest of freedom of speech.

Economy

The SVP supports supply-side economics. Thus it is a proponent of lower taxes and is against deficit spending. The SVP is in a dilemma in terms of its agricultural policy since, in consideration of it being the most popular party among farmers, it cannot reduce agricultural subsidies or curtail the current system of direct payments to farmers. The freedom of movement agreements with the EU and its extension toward new member states of the EU is looked at sceptically by the SVP and is associated with more immigration and higher crime rates.

Environment

In terms of the environment, transportation and energy policy the SVP opposes governmental measures for environmental protection. Therefore, in its transportation policy the party endorses the expansion of the Swiss motorway network and is against the preference of public transportation over individual transportation. It supports the construction of Megaprojects such as AlpTransit but criticizes the cost increases and demands more transparency. In the scope of environmentalism and energy policy the SVP is against the carbon tax and supports the use of nuclear energy. In the context of reductions of CO₂ emissions, the SVP cites the limited impact of Switzerland and instead supports globally, and legally binding agreements to address Global climate change.

Social policy

In social welfare policy the SVP rejects expansion of the welfare state, and stands for a conservative society. It opposes the public financing of maternity leave and nursery schools. The SVP is sceptical toward governmental support of an equalisation of both genders, and the SVP has the smallest proportion of women among parties represented in the Federal Assembly of Switzerland. In addition, the SVP has a repressive drug policies, opposing the legalisation of the consumption of drugs such as cannabis. At the same time, however, the party speaks out against measures to limit alcohol and tobacco consumption. In its education policy, it opposes tendencies to shift the responsibility of the upbringing of children from families to public institutions. The party claims that there's an excessive influence of anti-authoritarian ideas originating from the protests of 1968. In general, the party supports strengthening crime prevention measures against social crimes and, especially in the areas of social welfare policy and education policy, a return to meritocracy.

Election results

Federal elections

Popular vote, 1919-2003. The SVP (until 1971 BGB, in dark green) in 1999 reduced to insignificance the right-wing Swiss Democrats and Freedom Party, which had reached their apex in 1991.

The Swiss People's Party is the largest party in the northeast of the country, including Zürich and Bern, and is the largest party in ten cantonal legislatures (coloured green above).

Federal Assembly of Switzerland

Election	# of total votes	% of popular vote	# of seats won
1971	217,908	11.1%	23
1975	190,445	9.9%	21
1979	210,425	11.6%	23
1983	215,457	11.1%	23
1987	211,535	11.0%	25
1991	240,353	11.9%	25
1995	280,420	14.9%	29
1999	440,159	22.5%	44
2003	561,817	26.6%	55
2007	672,562	28.9%	62
2011	641,106	26.6%	54

Leadership

• Hans Conzett (1971–1976)
• Fritz Hofmann (1976–1984)
• Adolf Ogi (1984–1988)
• Hans Uhlmann (1988–1995)
• Ueli Maurer (1996–2008)
• Toni Brunner (2008–)

Notes

1. ^ The Swiss Federal Council is based on a consensus model called the magic formula, whereby seats in the seven-member Federal Council are assigned according to each of the four major party's share of the latest general election.

References

1. ^ (German) Der Bund kurz erklärt. Swiss Confederation. 2011. p. 18. http://www.bk.admin.ch/dokumentation/02070/index.html?lang=de&download=M3wBPgDB_8ull6Du36WenojQ1NTTjaXZnqWfVpzLhmfhnapmmc7Zi6rZnqCkkIZ5gH97bKbXrZ6lhuDZz8mMps2gpKfo. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Skenderovic, 2009, p. 124.
3. ^ ^{a b} Geden, 2006, p. 95.
4. ^ Skenderovic, 2009, pp. 124, 131, 156, 168.
5. ^ "Record poll win for Swiss right". BBC News. 22 October 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7054932.stm. Retrieved 15 February 2011. 
6. ^ Skenderovic, 2009, pp. 124-125.
7. ^ ^{a b} Skenderovic, 2009, p. 125.
8. ^ Skenderovic, 2009, pp. 125-126.
9. ^ Skenderovic, 2009, pp. 126-127.
10. ^ Geden, 2006, p. 94.
11. ^ ^{a b} Skenderovic, 2009, p. 128.
12. ^ Skenderovic, 2009, p. 130.
13. ^ Skenderovic, 2009, pp. 130-131.
14. ^ Skenderovic, 2009, p. 129.
15. ^ Skenderovic, 2009, p. 133.
16. ^ Skenderovic, 2009, p. 147.
17. ^ Skenderovic, 2009, p. 131.
18. ^ Skenderovic, 2009, p. 145.
19. ^ Skenderovic, 2009, pp. 153-156.
20. ^ Skenderovic, 2009, p. 151.
21. ^ Skenderovic, 2009, p. 150.
22. ^ Skenderovic, 2009, p. 134.
23. ^ ^{a b c d} "Far-right leaves Swiss government". BBC News. 13 December 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7141897.stm. Retrieved 2 February 2011. 
24. ^ Skenderovic, 2009, pp. 129-130.
25. ^ ^{a b c} Magone, José M.; Magone, José (2009). Comparative European Politics: An Introduction. Taylor & Francis. p. 428. ISBN 9780415418928. http://books.google.com/books?id=g73UtvxJsFcC&dq. 
26. ^ Skenderovic, 2009, pp. 133-134.
27. ^ "Swiss far-right win cabinet post". BBC News. 10 December 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7775051.stm. Retrieved 2 February 2011. 
28. ^ Swiss Anti-Immigration Party SVP Loses, Ending 20-Year Advance, Bloomberg, 23 October 2011
29. ^ Capodici, Vincenzo (22 July 2010). "«Kanton Baden-Württemberg»: Für Deutschland ein herber Verlust" (in German). Basler Zeitung. http://bazonline.ch/schweiz/standard/Kanton-BadenWuerttemberg-Fuer-Deutschland-ein-herber-Verlust/story/25003005. Retrieved 15 February 2011. 
30. ^ Henckel, Elisalex (11 June 2010). "SVP will Baden-Württemberg der Schweiz angliedern" (in German). Die Welt Online. http://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article8001661/SVP-will-Baden-Wuerttemberg-der-Schweiz-angliedern.html. Retrieved 15 February 2011. 
31. ^ Henckel, Elisalex (15 July 2010). "Viele Baden-Württemberger wären gerne Schweizer" (in German). Die Welt Online. http://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article8480832/Viele-Baden-Wuerttemberger-waeren-gerne-Schweizer.html. Retrieved 15 February 2011. 
32. ^ Wyborcza, Gazeta (22 July 2010). "Greater Switzerland just might take off". Presseurop. http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief/299141-greater-switzerland-just-might-take. Retrieved 15 February 2011. 
33. ^ Letvik, Håkon (24 July 2010). "Idé om Stor-Sveits skaper munterhet" (in Norwegian). Aftenposten (Berlin). http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/uriks/article3742689.ece. Retrieved 15 February 2011. 
34. ^ Sciolino, Elaine (8 October 2007). "Immigration, Black Sheep and Swiss Rage". New York Times (Schwerzenbach). http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/08/world/europe/08swiss.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 15 February 2011. 
35. ^ Foulkes, Imogen (6 September 2007). "Swiss row over black sheep poster". BBC News (Geneva). http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6980766.stm. Retrieved 15 February 2011. 

Bibliography

• Geden, Oliver (2006). Diskursstrategien im Rechtspopulismus: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs und Schweizerische Volkspartei zwischen Opposition und Regierungsbeteiligung. VS Verlag. ISBN 9783531151274. http://books.google.com/books?id=tUw25AKnnw0C&dq. 
• Skenderovic, Damir (2009). The radical right in Switzerland: continuity and change, 1945-2000. Berghahn Books. ISBN 9781845455804. http://books.google.com/books?id=wP7-a7NC0mkC&dq. 

External links

• svp.ch in German and French
• udc-ticino.ch in Italian