Non-believers significantly underrepresented in Swiss parliament

Non-religious people strongly underrepresented in the Federal Assembly Keystone-SDA

While people with no religious affiliation make up the largest group in the Swiss population at around 34%, they rank only third in parliament with just 23%.

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The largest group in parliament is represented by Roman Catholics, who make up around 40%, followed by the Protestant Reformed, who account for about 32%. This is according to a study by the University of Bern’s institute of political science. The Tages-Anzeiger newspaper was the first to report this on Wednesday.

In the Senate, Catholics make up about 56%, giving them a majority, while 21% are Protestant Evangelical Reformed and just 14% are non-religious. In the House of Representatives, around 37% identify as Roman Catholic, and about 25% consider themselves non-religious.

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Muslims are also significantly underrepresented. While nearly 6% of the population identify with this faith, only around 1% of parliamentarians do.

Translated from German by DeepL/sp

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