Notes on recent electionsThe parliamentary and executive elections in Switzerland, 2011
Section snippets
Electoral system
The Swiss parliament is perfectly bicameral, the two houses enjoying equal powers. The 200 seats in the lower house, the National Council, are divided among the 26 Swiss cantons in proportion to their resident population; each canton has at least one National Councillor. The 46 seats in the upper house, the Council of States, are distributed equally: two seats for every full, one seat for every half-canton (there are six half-cantons). For both houses the cantons serve as electoral districts.
Campaign
As for much of the past twenty years, the SVP dominated the campaign, drawing strength once again from having the largest (though undisclosed) budget and the most professional organisation. It rode two largely negative horses: opposition to any further negotiation with the EU and thus “weakening of Swiss independence”, and opposition to what it calls a “soft stance” on immigration and asylum seekers. The party had high hopes, openly targeting a 30 per cent share of the vote for the lower house
National Council results
On 23 October 2011, 3458 candidates (up 369 from 2007) presented themselves on a total of 365 lists (up 54) in the twenty cantons with proportional representation.2 Overall turnout was 48.5 per cent, up 0.2 percentage points to its highest level in 28 years. Electoral volatility among the parties represented in the National Council, measured by the Pedersen (1979) index, was also
Council of States results
The Council of States elections took place between 23 October and 4 December 2011. Of the 45 seats to be filled – Appenzell Inner-Rhodes had chosen its deputy on 1 May 2011 already – 26 were filled on 23 October and a record 19 in a second round.3
Federal Council results
A tension between two long-established principles dominated these elections on 14 December 2011. On the one hand, custom has it that acting Federal Councillors are re-elected if they decide to stand again. On the other hand, since the late 1950s, the composition of the executive had been based on the so-called ‘magic formula’, according to which the main parties are all represented in rough proportion to their parliamentary strength. The two principles clashed around the question of a second
Conclusions
The three sets of elections were clearly a major defeat for the SVP. For the first time since 1979 the party has not only failed to grow but has actually lost ground in the National Council. Moreover, its losses also in the elections for the upper house and its failure to regain a second seat in the executive confirm the party's inability to attract support across a wider constituency than its own voters. This is likely to prove more than a temporary setback and its overall objective of
References (5)
The Swiss federal elections of 2007
Electoral Studies
(2008)Election Indices
(2008)
Cited by (8)
The parliamentary and executive elections in Switzerland, 2015
2016, Electoral StudiesCitation Excerpt :On the left, the SP was able to consolidate its vote share but lost three seats in the transformation of votes into seats. This is the exact opposite of 2011, when the Socialists managed to secure three extra seats – primarily through linking their lists to those of others parties (apparentements) – in spite of a slight decline in their overall vote share (Mueller and Dardanelli, 2013).6 The Greens suffered a major blow by losing four of their 15 seats, while the communist Labour Party (PdA/PdT) reconquered the one seat it had lost in 2011.
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