Switzerland

Switzerland is marked by its sizable foreign-born population and four official linguistic groups distributed across a small geographical area. While factors such as moderate income inequality and high employment rates have largely prevented such factions from turning into deeply rooted social divisions, they are nonetheless the site of some key political cleavages. One quarter of the Swiss population currently remains ineligible to vote on the decisions that impact them due to restrictive naturalization laws. This large proportion of non-citizens has further come to structure national political competition as a result of growing concerns about the cultural and economic consequences of immigration. Closely connected to the issue of immigration is growing social tensions (and concomitant party polarization) with respect to both the Europeanization and globalization of Swiss society – as perhaps most prominently resulting in the abandonment of bilateral negotiations with the European Union (EU) for an institutional framework agreement, and the Swiss administration’s failure to fully implement some successful popular referendums due to conflicts with international obligations or norms. Beyond this tension in balancing sovereignty and supranational integration, national political competition and party polarization have also been driven by core issue areas such as pensions reform and environmental protection. As a result, the Swiss political climate is stagnant; the administration has had difficulties to find the consensus and coordination necessary for implementing change.

In the aggregate, democratic performance in Switzerland is relatively sound. The robustness and durability of the country’s democracy, evident in the high level of trust that Swiss citizens have in their institutions, means that the risk of democratic backsliding or breakdown remains very low. However, in line with GSoDI findings, there are two key areas to watch in the years to come. The first is the growing distrust of immigrant and minority groups, with a 2022 report by a United Nations (UN) working group noting both the high prevalence of racial discrimination against people of African descent as well as the inadequacy of the framework aimed at countering it. This means that the Civil Liberties and Social Rights and Equality sub-attributes ought to be monitored, particularly after a narrow majority of Swiss voters approved a public ban on face coverings. Secondly, the country's performance with regards to Electoral Participation may continue to decline as the proportion of non-citizens is boosted by post-pandemic immigration. This is not to say that Switzerland could not carve out a positive overall trajectory – indeed, recently passed legislation on the transparency of political party funding is likely to strengthen the Free Political Parties sub-attribute, and the development of a National Human Rights Institute, as well as the increased international attention surrounding discrimination, may serve as important points of impetus for reform.