Switzerland
Switzerland is high performing in all categories of the Global State of Democracy framework. The country performs in the top 25 per cent globally across every metric, with the exception of Electoral Participation. Between 2019-2024, there have been no significant changes in Switzerland’s democratic performance. Switzerland features a highly competitive export-oriented economy that has shown steady growth, stable levels of income inequality and high employment rates. The economy is driven by the services—and to a lesser extent—manufacturing industries.
Starting in the 14th century, the Old Swiss Confederacy emerged as a loose alliance of towns and rural communities. The traditional elites of the Confederacy lost power following the French invasion in 1798. They were initially replaced by the centralized Helvetic Republic, which in turn gave way to a federal state in 1803. Switzerland’s political identity is perhaps best characterized by its long-standing commitments to direct representation and decentralization, relying on consensus democracy, vertical power sharing between the Swiss Confederation and the cantons, and frequent political compromise. National political debates have also focused on core issue areas such as pension reform and environmental protection. The rejection of a recent popular initiative, aiming to limit resource consumption and pollution from economic activities, highlighted the ongoing tension between economic interests and environmental concerns.
The country is distinctive in its four official linguistic groups and sizable population of non-citizens. While foreign nationals resident in Switzerland cannot vote in national elections, they have the right to vote in local elections in certain cantons. Switzerland’s large foreign-born population has further come to structure national political competition, driven by debates about the social and economic impacts of immigration. These debates are often linked to broader issues of social cohesion and challenges related to growing discrimination.
Switzerland is high performing in Gender Equality. Protections against gender-based violence and harassment have recently been strengthened, including the expansion of the definition of rape to comprise sexual acts without explicit consent, and proposed legislation to strengthen protections for victims of stalking. However, economic inequality between genders persists. While women’s representation in management positions has slightly increased over the past decade, women are more present in unpaid care work and in low-wage sectors. Since 2022, legal gender recognition has been possible based on self-declaration. In the same year, Switzerland legalized same-sex marriage, after 64 per cent of people voted in favour in a national referendum. Recent debates on a proposed national ban of conversion therapy practices—which aim at inciting members of the LGBTQIA+ community to change their gender identity or sexual orientation—build on existing bans at the cantonal level.
In the years to come, it will be important to monitor Social Group Equality in connection with environmental policy, including the implementation of a landmark judgment from the European Court of Human Rights which considered that Switzerland failed to protect senior women from the impacts of climate change. It will also be important to follow debates on the national prohibition of conversion therapy practices, as well as a proposed ban on the public display of Nazi symbols for impacts on Social Group Equality.
Last updated: June 2025
https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/
January 2025
Ban on face coverings in public spaces enters into force
On 1 January, legislation entered into force imposing a fine of up to CHF 1,000 for covering one’s face in public places other than places of worship. The law provides exceptions for artistic, health, and other reasons, but not for religious reasons. In a 2021 referendum, 51.2 per cent of voters supported a public initiative to ban face coverings. The public initiative was spearheaded by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party and led to the introduction of a new article to the constitution that prohibits face coverings, and the drafting of the Federal Act on the Prohibition of Face Coverings which entered into force in January. In 2021, the Islamic Central Council in Switzerland (IZR) commented that the decision expands legal inequality and sends a signal of exclusion to the Muslim minority. Although Muslims make up approximately 5.7 per cent of the Swiss population, the law impacts only a small number of people, as very few wear burkas or niqabs, according to a 2020 study by the University of Lucerne.
Sources: NPR, Federal Statistical Office, Islamic Central Council (IZR) (1), Islamic Central Council (IZR) (2), University of Lucerne, Fedlex
September 2024
Authorities investigate forgery of signatures for federal popular initiatives
Investigative journalists alleged in September that companies contracted by campaigns to collect signatures for popular initiatives falsified signatures. The Citizen Service (Service Citoyen), an association promoting civic engagement, filed a criminal complaint in June 2023 after noticing irregularities in the list of signatures collected by a company for their campaign. The Office of the Attorney General and the police have opened a fraud investigation. On 6 September, the Council of States, the upper house of the legislature, separately initiated an examination of the role of the Federal Chancellery, which oversees national elections and verifies the legality of initiatives and referendums. Politicians are calling for reform to protect the integrity of the collection process, including renewed calls for a ban on commercial signature collection (which has been tested at the cantonal level in the past), as well as for electronically verified signature collection.
Sources: The Federal Assembly, SwissInfo (1), SwissInfo (2), RTS, Service Citoyen
June 2024
Parliament votes against implementing ECHR’s climate ruling
Parliament has urged no further action to implement the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)’s April ruling which stated that Switzerland is violating the rights of senior women by failing to protect them from the negative consequences of climate change. The final decision on whether to comply with the decision is expected to be announced by the Federal Council in August, as the branch of government responsible for preparing an action plan to execute the ruling. A declaration, prepared by the Legal Affairs Committee and adopted by both parliamentary houses, criticizes the ECHR ruling for “inappropriate and unacceptable judicial activism,” which, according to the declaration, risks calling the Court’s legitimacy into question. The declaration concludes that there is no reason to take further action on the ECHR’s ruling, claiming it already has an effective climate strategy. The ECHR’s ruling is binding, and leaves it open to Swiss policymakers to remedy the inadequate protections. In response, the NGO that brought the case before the ECHR, KlimaSeniorinnen, launched a petition, collecting over 22,000 signatures to urge MPs to respect the ruling and protect the European Convention on Human Rights.
Sources: International IDEA, BBC, SWR, Swiss Parliament, KlimaSeniorinnen, SRF, EJIL Talk
April 2024
European court finds rights violations in landmark climate judgment
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled in favour of the association KlimaSeniorinnen, a group of older Swiss women who took action against Switzerland for failing to implement measures to stop climate change. On 9 April, the ECHR found that Switzerland has failed to protect senior women from the negative impacts of climate change, including for their health, in violation of the right to respect for private and family life (Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights). The judgment also ruled that Switzerland violated the rights of KlimaSeniorinnen to access a court and pointed to the failure of Swiss authorities to carry out a substantive examination of the alleged violations. The ECHR is the first international court to uphold a human rights-based claim to climate protection. The Court leaves it open to Swiss policymakers to remedy the inadequate protections.
Sources: The Guardian (1), The Guardian (2), ECHR (1), ECHR (2), SwissInfo, KlimaSeniorinnen
See all event reports for this country
Global ranking per category of democratic performance in 2024
Basic Information
Human Rights Treaties
State party
Signatory
No action
Performance by category over the last 6 months
Global State of Democracy Indices
Hover over the trend lines to see the exact data points across the years
Factors of Democratic Performance Over Time
Use the slider below to see how democratic performance has changed over time
