Swiss cabinet model remains set in stone

RDB

In Switzerland four parties have been sharing seven seats in the cabinet for more than 50 years - a highly stable form of government that is still unusual worldwide.

The political right and left have been gaining ground over the past few years at the expense of the centre parties. But experts do not believe that the upcoming elections will bring about any radical change of the government’s composition.

“It’s not easy for me to explain to my foreign colleagues the importance of small shifts in votes between the parties which result from elections in Switzerland,” said Georg Lutz, a political scientist at Bern University.

In many other countries the government alternates between different political parties or coalitions. In neighbouring France, Italy and Germany, for instance, the government’s make-up changes every one or two legislatures. There is also usually an opposition party.

Switzerland is the opposite: 80 per cent of the population have been supporting the same four main parties in power – the centre-left Social Democrats, the centre-right Radicals and Christian Democrats, as well as the rightwing Swiss People’s Party – for decades.

The cabinet posts are decided according to an informal power-sharing deal among these parties, known as the magic formula.

The agreement, which dates back to 1959, changed slightly in the wake of the 2003 parliamentary elections, when the People’s Party – previously only holding one seat – increased its share of the vote by four per cent and gained an additional seat at the expense of the Christian Democrats.

Shockwaves

This caused shockwaves in Switzerland at the time – as any change is perceived as a threat to the principle of consensus, on which the cabinet is based.

“Historically, the Swiss political system has not been based on government and opposition, but on the integration of political entities from opposition or emerging political forces,” explained André Mach, a political expert from Lausanne University.

When Switzerland was created in 1848, the government consisted of Radicals. The other three parties were gradually admitted between 1891 and 1943.

“This integration has ensured, among other things, that important political forces did not systematically block the will of government or parliament by forcing referendums,” added Mach.

Lutz believes that the unchanging political scene is also linked to the lack of competition between the parties in power. Not only do they work together and share responsibility in the cabinet, but also at the lower levels of power in the cantonal and communal authorities.

Lutz says this makes it difficult to give credit to or blame any one particular party when it comes to decision-making.

“This political cooperation results in the smoothing over of many ideological differences. In Switzerland, apart from foreigners and foreign relations, there are very few controversial issues,” he added.

Political polarisation?

The last elections in 2003 saw a swing of support to the right to the People’s Party, the largest party and to the left – the Social Democrats and Green Party. This was at the cost of the centre-right.

But the experts warn this does not mean the start of opposition politics.

“This polarisation is usually more evident during electoral campaigns. If you look at the decisions made in government and parliament, you find the same coalitions as 40 years ago,” said Lutz.

Both political scientists believe the consensus model is likely to remain unchanged in Switzerland in the near future.

“You would need, above all, much stronger parties to for a government and opposition system, but we are far away from this, both on the left and the right,” said Mach.

Lutz agrees, adding that changes would only come about if provoked, such as introducing a majority voting system into parliament, which might produce two opposing blocks.

“However, this is a vision that is light years away from political reality. I don’t think these changes will come about in my lifetime,” he said.

swissinfo, based on an Italian article by Armando Mombelli

Consensus government

After Switzerland was formed in 1848, the Radical Party held all seven cabinet seats for more than four decades.

The Conservatives (now Christian Democrats) were admitted in 1891 and in 1929, the Swiss People’s Party (formerly representing farmers) also joined. The Social Democrats obtained their first seat in 1943, but lost it temporarily ten years later.

Since 1959 the cabinet has always been made up from these four parties which regularly gain around 80% of the vote.

This form of consensus government always tries to find compromise solutions between the main parties, with the aim, among other things, to avoid referendums.

Government and opposition

In Britain, Labour and the Conservatives have been alternating in government since the Second World War.

In Germany, the Social Democrats and the Christian Democrats have been in and out of power since 1969. Since 2005 there has been a “grand coalition” of the main parties under Angela Merkel.

In France, this system of government and opposition has been in place since the success of the political left in elections in 1981.

In Italy, the left came to power for the first time in 1986, ending 40 years if dominance by the right. In 2001, the right was re-elected under Silvio Berlusconi, but was replaced by the left under a resurgent Romano Prodi in 2006.