Swiss People's Party
Party Name in German	Schweizerische Volkspartei (SVP)
Party Name in French	Union Démocratique du Centre (UDC)
Party Name in Italian	Unione Democratica di Centro (UDC)
Party Name in Romansh	Partida Populara Svizra (PPS)
President	Ueli Maurer (chair)
Members of the Swiss Federal Council	Samuel Schmid and Christoph Blocher
Founded	Merger of Agrarian Party and the Democratic Party
Headquarters	Brückfeldstrasse 18 CH-3001 Berne
Political Ideology	Conservatism, Populism, Agrarian, Isolationism
European Affiliation
International Affiliation
Colours	Dark Green
Website	www.svp.ch
See also:	Politics & Government Swiss Federal Council Federal Chancellor Federal Assembly Council of States (members) National Council (members) Political parties Elections (2003 - 2007) Cantons - Municipalities Voting Samuel Schmid Samuel Schmid (born January 8, 1947) is a member of the Swiss Federal Council, heading the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports. ... Christoph Blocher (born 11 October 1940) is a Swiss politician, industrialist and member of the Swiss Federal Council. ... Conservatism is a term used to describe political philosophies that favor tradition and gradual change, where tradition refers to religious, cultural, or nationally defined beliefs and customs. ... Agrarian has two meanings: It can mean pertaining to Agriculture It can also refer to the ideology of Agrarianism and Agrarian parties. ... Isolationism is a foreign policy which combines a non-interventionist military policy and a political policy of economic nationalism (protectionism). ... Image File history File links Coat_of_Arms_of_Switzerland. ... Politics of Switzerland takes place in a framework of a federal parliamentary democratic republic, whereby the Federal Council of Switzerland is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. ... The Swiss Federal Council (German: , French: , Italian: , Romansh: ) is the seven-member executive council which constitutes the government as well as the head of state of Switzerland. ... Chancellor (Latin: cancellarius), an official title used by most of the peoples whose civilization has arisen directly or indirectly out of the Roman empire. ... The Bundeshaus (Swiss parliament building) The Federal Assembly (in German, Bundesversammlung; in French, Assemblée fédérale; in Italian language, Assemblea federale), is Switzerlands federal parliament. ... The Council of States of Switzerland (German: Ständerat, French Conseil des Etats, Italian Consiglio degli Stati) is the upper house of the Swiss parliament. ... This is a list of the members of the Swiss Council of States of the current legislature (2003-2007). ... The National Council of Switzerland (German: Nationalrat, French: Conseil National, Italian: Consiglio Nazionale) is the large Chamber of the parliament and has 200 seats. ... This is a list of the 200 members of the Swiss National Council (as of January 2005). ... Political parties in Switzerland lists political parties in Switzerland. ... Politics of Switzerland Categories: Election related stubs | Elections in Switzerland ... Legislative elections in the Swiss Confederation were held on 19 October 2003. ... Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Saturday, October 20, 2007; the second round of the elections to the Council of States will be held on 11 November, 18 November and 25 November 2007. ... Valais Ticino Graubünden (Grisons) Geneva Vaud Neuchâtel Jura Berne Thurgau Zurich Aargau Lucerne Solothurn Basel-Land Schaffhausen Uri Schwyz Glarus St. ... Municipalities are the smallest government division in Switzerland. ... Voting in Switzerland is the process with which Swiss citizens make decisions about governance and elect officials. ...

The Swiss People's Party (SVP) also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre (UDC) is a political party in Switzerland. Political Parties redirects here. ...

Originally a centrist farmers' party, it embraced right-wing populism from the 1980s onwards under the unofficial leadership of Christoph Blocher, and in the 1990s to 2000s more than doubled its popular vote to 29%. In politics, centrism usually refers to the political ideal of promoting moderate policies which land in the middle ground between different political extremes. ... Right-wing populism (also radical right-wing populism, RRP) is a contemporary political ideology prevalent in New Right politics of Europe. ... Christoph Blocher (born 11 October 1940) is a Swiss politician, industrialist and member of the Swiss Federal Council. ...

The SVP has been participating in the governing coalition since 1929, gaining a second seat in the Federal Council in 2003, currently held by Samuel Schmid and Christoph Blocher. The Swiss Federal Council (German: , French: , Italian: , Romansh: ) is the seven-member executive council which constitutes the government as well as the head of state of Switzerland. ... Samuel Schmid Samuel Schmid (born January 8, 1947) is a member of the Swiss Federal Council, heading the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports. ... Christoph Blocher (born 11 October 1940) is a Swiss politician, industrialist and member of the Swiss Federal Council. ...

In both the 2003 and 2007 general elections, the SVP emerged as the strongest party, currently holding 62 of 200 seats in the Swiss National Council. The party chair is held by Ueli Maurer. Legislative elections in the Swiss Confederation were held on 19 October 2003. ... Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Saturday, October 20, 2007; the second round of the elections to the Council of States will be held on 11 November, 18 November and 25 November 2007. ... The National Council of Switzerland is the large Chamber of the parliament and has 200 seats. ...

History

The Farmers, Artisans, and Citizens' Party (BGB) was founded in 1918 in Berne, and entered the Federal Council in 1929 with Rudolf Minger. The Democratic Party (DP) was founded in 1942. The two parties were merged into the Swiss People's Party (SVP) in 1971. Rudolf Minger (November 13, 1881 - August 23, 1955), Swiss politician. ...

The SVP is traditionally strongest in German-speaking areas of Switzerland, but since the 2000s has gained significant support also in the French-speaking part. As of 2007, the party is strongest in Thurgau and Schwyz (both over 40%), and weakest in Fribourg, Valais and Ticino.[1] Thurgau (Thurgovia) is a canton of Switzerland. ... View from hiking trail between Ibergeregg and Spirstock Schwyz (German  ) is a canton in central Switzerland between Lake Lucerne in the south and Lake Zurich in the north, centered around and named after the town of Schwyz. ... The Canton of Fribourg is a canton of Switzerland. ... The Valais (German:  ) is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the south-western part of the country, in the Pennine Alps around the valley of the Rhone River from its springs to Lake Geneva. ... For the river, see Ticino river. ...

Ideology

Further information: Right-wing populism

One version of the 2007 poster.

In May, 2007, the party along with the Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland launched an initiative to amend the Swiss Federal Constitution to ban the construction of minarets. The SVP claimed that they did not oppose Muslims but considered that construction of minarets went against state secularism.^[1] Right-wing populism (also radical right-wing populism, RRP) is a contemporary political ideology prevalent in New Right politics of Europe. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland (Switzerland: Eidgenössisch-Demokratische Union, Union Démocratique Fédérale, Unione Democratica Federale) is a political party in Switzerland. ... initiative, see Initiative (disambiguation). ... The Swiss Constitution (Bundesverfassung in German, Constitution fédérale in French, Constituzione federale in Italian and Constituziun federala in Romansh) is at the highest level of Switzerlands judicial system. ... The construction of minarets is, as of 2007, a subject of political controversy in Switzerland. ... It has been suggested that Laïcité be merged into this article or section. ...

On 1 August 2007, the SVP launched a direct mail, print and outdoor advertising campaign at a national level to gather signatures supporting the "Federal Popular Initiative for the Deportation of Criminal Foreigners". An illustration was used in which three white sheep roaming on a Swiss-flag delimited area kick out a black sheep. The caption reads: "Bringing safety". In Geneva, the city council banned the outdoor campaign, and most of the outdoor posters already placed were destroyed. Thousands of the direct mail brochures with prepaid return postage were sent back without a signature to cause increased expenses to the campaign organizers. Immigrant criminality (foreigner criminality, foreigner delinquency) refers to delinquency perpetrated by non-naturalized residents of foreign origin within a given country. ... Black Sheep may refer to many different things: // English language Black sheep is a derogatory colloquial term in the English language meaning an outsider or one who is different in a way which others disapprove of. ...

The SVP was subsequently accused of promoting a deportation scheme mirroring a law operated by Nazi Germany. ^[2]

Popular support

Popular vote, 1919-2003. The SVP (until 1971 BGB, in dark green) in 1999 reduced to insignificance the far-right Swiss Democrats and Freedom Party, which had reached their apex in 1991.

From the 1930s to the 1980s, the party had constantly held of the order of 10%-15% of the national vote, traditionally representing the interest of Swiss farmers. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 333 pixelsFull resolution‎ (1,999 × 831 pixels, file size: 121 KB, MIME type: image/png) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 333 pixelsFull resolution‎ (1,999 × 831 pixels, file size: 121 KB, MIME type: image/png) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... The Swiss Democrats (Schweizer Demokraten, Démocrates Suisses, Democratici Svizzeri) is a controversial right-wing (some say far-right) political party in Switzerland. ... The Freedom Party of Switzerland (German: Freiheits-Partei der Schweiz) is a political party from Switzerland. ...

Over the 1990s, the SVP changed its course radically towards a combination of nationalist populism and neo-liberalism, and has greatly increased its voter support, at the expense of both the far-right fringe and the major parties of the centre, gaining of the order of 5% on each. Popular vote more than doubled from 12% in 1991 to 29% in 2007, at the same time resulting in a polarisation on the left, strengthening the Swiss Green Party in particular.^{[citation needed]} Nationalism is an ideology that creates and sustains a nation as a concept of a common identity for groups of humans. ... The term neoliberalism is used to describe a political-economic philosophy that had major implications for government policies beginning in the 1970s – and increasingly prominent since 1980 – that de-emphasizes or rejects positive government intervention in the economy, focusing instead on achieving progress and even social justice by... The Green Party of Switzerland (German: ; French: ; Italian: ; Romansh: ; The Greens – Swiss ecological party) is the fifth-largest party in the National Council of Switzerland (the largest not represented on the Federal Council). ...

In the 2003 elections, its ascendancy to the strongest party in the parliament led it to demand an additional seat on the Federal Council at the expense of the Christian Democrats (now the weakest of the parties in the governing coalition) and threatened to go into opposition if it did not get it. Finally, Christoph Blocher was elected to the council, replacing Ruth Metzler-Arnold. Legislative elections in the Swiss Confederation were held on 19 October 2003. ... The Christian Democratic Peoples Party of Switzerland (Also called Christian-Democratic Party; German: , French: , Italian: , Romansh: ) is a political party in Switzerland and a member of the Swiss coalition government. ... Christoph Blocher (born 11 October 1940) is a Swiss politician, industrialist and member of the Swiss Federal Council. ... Ruth Metzler-Arnold (born May 23, 1964) is a Swiss politician. ...

In 2003, the party held 55 out of the 200 seats in the Swiss National Council (the lower chamber of the Swiss parliament), 8 out of the 46 seats in the upper chamber, and 2 out of the 7 seats on the Swiss Federal Council (the collective executive body). By 2005, it held 23.3% of the seats in the Swiss Cantonal parliaments but only occupied 15.8% of the positions within the Swiss Cantonal governments (data from the "BADAC" index, weighted with the population and number of seats). An explanation for this gap may be that many members of the cantonal party sections are young and therefore under-represented in the corpus of the more experienced personnel generally included within governments. The National Council of Switzerland is the large Chamber of the parliament and has 200 seats. ... The Swiss Federal Council (German: , French: , Italian: , Romansh: ) is the seven-member executive council which constitutes the government as well as the head of state of Switzerland. ...

With the further rise in support from 27% in 2003 to 29% in the 2007 election (62 out of the 200 seats)^[3], the party matched the historic high-water mark of the Free Democratic Party in 1919. Also in the 2007 elections, the far-right nationalist Swiss Democrats lost their last seat in parliament, their electorate having been almost fully absorbed into the ranks of the SVP. Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Saturday, October 20, 2007; the second round of the elections to the Council of States will be held on 11 November, 18 November and 25 November 2007. ... The Free Democratic Party of Switzerland (German: Freisinnig-Demokratische Partei der Schweiz (FDP), French: Parti radical-démocratique suisse (PRD), Italian: Partito liberale radicale svizzero (PLR)) is a free market liberal party in Switzerland. ... The Swiss Democrats (Schweizer Demokraten, Démocrates Suisses, Democratici Svizzeri) is a controversial right-wing (some say far-right) political party in Switzerland. ...

Notes

"Political Map of Switzerland" "Hermann, M. und Leuthold, H. (2003): Die politische Landkarte des Nationalrats 1999-2003. In: Tages-Anzeiger, 11. Oktober, 2003, Zürich."

See also

• AUNS

The AUNS (Aktion für eine unabhängige und neutrale Schweiz campaign for the independence and neutrality of Switzerland, in French Action pour une Suisse Indépendante et Neutre ASIN, in Italian Azione per una Svizzera neutrale e indipendente ASNI) is a right-wing, isolationist conservative political organization of Switzerland...

External links

• svp.ch (homepage) in German and French
• Website containing games supporting SVP ideology (in German and French)
• "Political Map of Switzerland" "Hermann, M. und Leuthold, H. (2003): Die politische Landkarte des Nationalrats 1999-2003. In: Tages-Anzeiger, 11. Oktober, 2003, Zürich."
• svp-politik.ch (critical website) in German

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Minor parties	CSP/PCS - EVP/PEV - FPS/PSL - GPS/PES - LPS/PLS/PLC - SD/DS - Lega - EDU/UDF - PdA/PST-POP/PC - AL - Sol
Portal:Politics - List of political parties - Politics of Switzerland