The Ideological Space in Swiss Politics

Abstract

Switzerland is emblematic of transformations in electoral politics that have occurred across advanced democracies in the last decades. From as early as the 1990s, voters have become polarized along a ‘universalism–particularism’ dimension of politics, more so than along the traditional ‘state–market’ dimension. The result is a fundamentally realigned system, in which the universalist left increasingly caters to a socially progressive, highly educated new middle class while the diametrically opposed particularist far right successfully mobilizes socially conservative voters in the lower-educated old working and middle classes. A fragmented centre right, meanwhile, grapples with its position in a changing electoral landscape. The chapter traces changes in the social structure that paved the way for electoral realignment in Switzerland. Moreover, it shows how voters’ issue positions have developed over time, and it comparatively situates the Swiss case. We further engage with how the Swiss political space may evolve in the near future: on the one hand, the by now dominant ‘second’ ideological dimension seems to have become capable of absorbing or restructuring even distributive conflicts following a universalism-versus-particularism logic; on the other, the possibility remains that a liberal centre right may yet disrupt some of the strongly polarizing dynamics between the new left and the far right. Overall, the most recent stages of realignment in Switzerland might foreshadow possible developments in other countries that are experiencing similar structural and political transformations.