Rahel Freiburghaus

Parliament’s bias toward the preferences of wealthier and male voters, and MPs’ tendency to perceive their constituents as more conservative than they actually are.

I had a great time giving a guest lecture at the Uni of St. Gallen. Many thanks for the kind invite, and to everyone who came along!

Parliament’s bias toward the preferences of wealthier and male voters, and MPs’ tendency to perceive their constituents as more conservative than they actually are.

I had a great time giving a guest lecture at the Uni of St. Gallen. Many thanks for the kind invite, and to everyone who came along!

A clear signal from the @leewas.bsky.social exit polls on the rejected far-right proposal to slash public broadcasting funding: trust in govt mattered.

The more critical voters were of the government, the more likely they were to back the cuts

cc @lucasleemann.bsky.social @mariostauble.bsky.social

bsky.app/profile/rfrb...

When the far right launched its proposal to slash funding for the public broadcaster, it initially enjoyed the support of a majority of Swiss voters

During the campaign, however,the support steadily eroded in light of broad cross-party countermobilization, with the prop finally being rejected today

After their defeat, the far right is already spinning the result: accusing the left of “buying” the campaign.

Yes, the opposition did mobilize significant resources, a record number of small donors.

The irony? The far right remains by far the best-funded force🇨🇭 , backed by super wealthy donors

Super Sunday in Switzerland!

What is already clear: the far-right popular initiative aimed at slashing funding for the public broadcaster has been decisively rejected.

A broad cross-party alliance successfully campaigning against it & early results suggest strong countermobilization in urban areas

Today, Switzerland is heading to the polls to vote on 4 national ballot measures.

Yet national and int‘l media are already focusing on the next vote in June: a far-right proposal to cap the population at 10 million.

It’s a telling sign how strongly the far-right SVP has come to dominate the agenda

Today, Switzerland is heading to the polls to vote on 4 national ballot measures.

Yet national and int‘l media are already focusing on the next vote in June: a far-right proposal to cap the population at 10 million.

It’s a telling sign how strongly the far-right SVP has come to dominate the agenda

Danke für Ihr Interesse!

Entzauberte Demokratie – und jetzt? Perspektiven für die Schweiz Eine Demokratiereform für die Schweiz

Für Kurzentschlossene:

Am Montag, 9. März 2026 (18:15 Uhr) darf ich an der Universität St. Gallen eine öffentliche Gastvorlesung zum Thema "Eine Demokratiereform für die Schweiz" halten.

Herzliche Einladung!
Es wäre mir eine grosse Freude, bekannte Gesichter zu sehen!
www.unisg.ch/de/news/vera...

Entzauberte Demokratie – und jetzt? Perspektiven für die Schweiz Eine Demokratiereform für die Schweiz

Für Kurzentschlossene:

Am Montag, 9. März 2026 (18:15 Uhr) darf ich an der Universität St. Gallen eine öffentliche Gastvorlesung zum Thema "Eine Demokratiereform für die Schweiz" halten.

Herzliche Einladung!
Es wäre mir eine grosse Freude, bekannte Gesichter zu sehen!
www.unisg.ch/de/news/vera...

Höhere #Lohnbeiträge oder #Mehrwertsteuer: darauf beschänkt sich derzeit die finanzpolitische Diskussion in Bundesbern.
Beide belasten überwiegend den #FaktorArbeit.
Das würde die eh schon zunehmende steuerliche Privilegierung des Faktors Kapital (👇) weiter verstärken.

This one may be of interest , cc @indubioproreto.bsky.social bsky.app/profile/rfrb...

Switzerland will vote in June on a far-right proposal to cap the population at 10 mio. If the limit is reached, the govt would be required to withdraw from the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons with the EU.

The broader trend:
An increasing number of 🇨🇭ballots openly challenges intl treaties

THE PRICE OF WAR

"A war of average intensity is associated with an output drop of close to 10% in the war-site economy, while consumer prices rise by approximately 20 percent. The economic ramifications of war are not confined to the war site"

(American Economic Review Vol. 116, No. 3, March 2026)

Welcome to our campus, @unil.bsky.social x EPFL! Glad you like it on our campus, right at Lake Geneva! :)

Americanists & #polisky, what would this chart look like in the US, or your country of specialty?

Fair point!

Thank you. Yes, indeed: The bulk of the Swiss electorate are so called "selective voters", who decide anew at each vote and referendum whether they will participate or not. Permanent abstainers are quite rare www.defacto.expert/2016/02/15/s... @kjephd.bsky.social

Switzerland is also one of the most politically exclusive democracies.

New official data show that only ≈60% of all residents have political rights.

And given Switzerland’s low voter turnout, a small minority (roughly a quarter of all residents who vote regularly) ends up deciding for the majority

Equally striking to many observers is the fact that Switzerland is as far as I know the only democracy in which federal supreme court judges contribute part of their salary to their political party in order to secure nomination for re-election (they must stand for re-election every six years) /3

frequently notice the greatest astonishment about the shortcomings of Swiss democracy precisely in areas that are considered core democratic safeguards elsewhere.

A prime example is the absence of constitutional review in Switzerland, s'thing that often surprises German colleagues in particular /2

That’s indeed a fascinating tension. There is often a trade-off between those who prioritize participation through elections and those who prefer referendums, which allow citizens to express themselves more directly and concretely on specific policy decisions. Personally, I... 1/

Very striking.

I feel like I've been hearing more & more praise for Swiss political institutions lately—the multi-member executive, wide availability of direct democracy, federalism. But the exclusivity of political rights & low turnout give another perspective

All kudos to the Swiss federal authorities. I can highly recommend their annual publication "The Swiss Confederation – a brief guide" to everyone interested in the political system of Switzerland. It is available in English and all four national languages www.bk.admin.ch/bk/en/home/d...

Basel-Stadt is indeed an even more extreme case where a minority decides for the majority, see my earlier post below

bsky.app/profile/rfrb...

that I would qualify as blind spots (including the highly exclusionary character of Swiss democracy and the low turnout highly biased towards certain social identities) are often hardly known

Amazing, thank you so much, Kevin! This is very much appreciated, and incredibly helpful to better situate my book in a what I would call a reoccuring observation: many things about Swiss democracy seem to be assessed much more favorably by international than domestic observers. And many things 1/2

Thanks, Kevin, for highlighting this. If I dare asking, out of curiosity: where do you feel like hearing such positive assessments, and shared by whom? I’ll be submitting a book manuscript on the need for reform of Swiss democracy soon, so this would be very valuable to learn from your perspectivr