Switzerland’s economic success and political stability are largely due to the peculiarities of its political system, in which Christian Democrats also play a prominent role.
The Swiss Christian Democratic People’s Party (Christlichdemokratische Volkspartei, CVP) is the smallest of the four members of the Swiss ruling coalition and is an associate member of the European People’s Party. The party was founded in 1912 as the Swiss Conservative Party and was created to represent Swiss Roman Catholics. The party also included representatives of Christian trade unions.
Today, the party supports the involvement of religious institutions and religious values in solving social problems, and its policies are aimed at strengthening the family and helping developing countries.
From 1975 to 1983, the Swiss Christian Democrats were the largest party in the country. This period was one of the most important for strengthening the country’s economy and taking the economic place in Europe that Switzerland can boast of today.
But in the mid-1980s, electoral support began to decline. At the beginning of the 21st century, it was the weakest of the four coalition partners that formed the government, and in 2003 its representation in the Federal Council was reduced to one seat.
In the 2019 elections, the party was supported by 275,842 thousand voters, which is 11.4% of the electoral support. In recent years, there has been a clear decline in the number of votes cast for the Swiss Christian Democrats, which had support at the level of 20% back in the 1980s.
Moreover, losses are noticeable even in traditional Catholic constituencies, where Christian politicians have always been supported. This is due to the fact that young people in urban areas are more oriented toward socially liberal ideas than conservative Christian democratic rhetoric. The loss of a Christian Democratic deputy-senator in the canton of Fribourg, which was even called the “Christian Republic,” led to a party debate about the appropriateness of the Christian component in the party name, which was rejected by the majority of party delegates at the party conference in Frauenfeld.
Today, the position of Christian democracy is characterized by volatility, and in some countries where Christian democrats were in opposition yesterday, they have a high chance of forming a government. Switzerland is no exception.
Author: Valeriy Maydanyuk
