Parties and Party Systems

Abstract

Abstract For decades, Swiss political parties provided remarkable stability to both the party system in particular and Swiss politics in general. Their organizations were weak and lacked resources. The fragmented party system forced parties into cooperation if they wanted to secure majorities for their policy proposals. Since the early 1990s, Swiss politics and subsequently the party system and party organizations have been experiencing significant changes. New lines of conflict emerged: nationalist and conservative issues, the question of European integration, and environmental issues as the most important. These political shifts broke up traditional political structures, forced parties to reposition, and created opportunities for new parties. Additionally, they significantly increased the level of polarization and brought party competition to new heights. This intensified party competition led national topics to dominate political debates at the cantonal and even local level. Party leaderships put more emphasis on closing ranks and taking unified political positions. In conjunction with the general trend towards the mediatization of politics, these are major driving factors that led to a strengthening and professionalization of party structures. Finally, the ongoing digitization led to challenges for party organizations by providing new ways of digital organization and communication. At the same time, it lowered thresholds for non-partisan actors, such as political action committees and citizen movements, to enter the political arena in competition with the traditional parties. After decades of relative calm, the Swiss parties and the party system are strongly in motion, but it is not entirely clear where the journey is heading.

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