In Switzerland - The SVP: A "success" story of right-wing populism

[pampango]

Enjoying significant influence over the Swiss political agenda, the success of SVP demonstrates the dangers of integrating right-wing populist parties into the mainstream

In Switzerland, the 6th of December 2012 marked the 20th anniversary of a popular vote that rejected the country’s membership of the European Economic Area (EEA). The vote was a turning point in Swiss politics, as well as in the history of the Swiss People’s Party (SVP). The decision at the ballot effectively sealed the debate on issues of European integration for the next two decades, resulting in an almost unanimous rejection among political parties and the public in Switzerland of the idea of joining the European Union. As a recent survey shows, only six per cent of the people polled see the country’s membership of the EU as a priority, while 63 per cent opt for continuing the path of bilateral agreements with the EU.

The 1992 vote was also the starting point for the electoral and political success of the SVP, which, with Christoph Blocher as a wealthy and sedulous populist leader, had been the driving force in the campaign against EEA membership. In fact, the party’s electoral record makes the SVP the most successful right-wing populist party in Europe.

Like other right-wing populist parties in Europe, the SVP’s “winning formula” consists of linking nationalist and exclusionist demands in immigration and foreign policy with neo-liberal and anti-state positions in economic and taxation policy. However, as recent electoral surveys show, a large majority of SVP voters are primarily attracted to the party’s restrictive positions on immigration and asylum, its identity politics on questions of preserving Swiss traditions and national sovereignty, as well as its opposition to EU membership.

http://www.policy-network.net/pno_detail.aspx?ID=4317&title=The-SVP-A-success-story-of-right-wing-populism

The SVP's focus on nationalism is consistent with the finding of the West Point study of the far-right in the US: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2222566