How a far-right party came to dominate Swiss politics - fear of "others" of course.

[pampango]

With a strident anti-immigration stance and provocative campaigns, the far-right Swiss People’s Party (SVP) has become one of the most successful right-wing populist parties in Europe. It now looks set to repeat its success in October’s federal elections.

Like similar parties in other countries, the SVP plays on voters’ fear of change, Lutz argues:

“Globalization, the openness and the enlargement of the European Union, and the increasing amount of immigrants were seen as a cultural threat to Swiss identity for many people.” The SVP identified those fears and “it became a one-issue party,” always talking about immigration “in different variations,” such as foreign criminals, minarets or the burqa, Lutz tells The Local.

“First, they put the European Union issue on the table; then, when that issue lost its potential due to bilateral agreements, they switched to the question of immigration and foreign criminals,” explains Simon Bornschier, a political researcher who studies the rise of right-wing populist parties in Switzerland and the rest of Europe.

http://www.thelocal.ch/1422/20111007/

Apparently the SVP first tried to use the "big, bad EU" to scare voters. When that didn't work they switched to immigrants as the "others" that they could scare voters with and have had great success. Too much "openness" (like in the EU) seems to be disconcerting for those on the far-right. They seem to much prefer walls to give them a sense of security - both in Europe and here ("Just build the dang wall.")