The Swiss Democrats (german: Schweizer Demokraten; french: Démocrates Suisses; it, Democratici Svizzeri; rm, Democrats Svizers) are a

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. It was called the National Action against the Alienation of the People and the Home (german: Nationale Aktion gegen Überfremdung von Volk und Heimat; ''NA'') until 1977 and the National Action for People and Home (german: Nationale Aktion für Volk und Heimat) until 1990, when it was renamed to its current name.

History

The ''Nationale Aktion'' was originally a

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

xenophobic Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...

movement pursuing an

anti-immigration Opposition to immigration, also known as anti-immigration, has become a significant political ideology in many countries. In the modern sense, immigration refers to the entry of people from one state or territory into another state or territory ...

agenda, founded in 1961. The party "emerged as a reaction to the influx of foreign workers," particularly Italians, during this time. The party submitted several popular initiatives that supported reduced immigration, most notably one in June 1970 that narrowly failed. Its first representative in the National Council was

James Schwarzenbach James Schwarzenbach (August 5, 1911 – October 27, 1994) was a right-wing Swiss politician and publicist. In the 1970s he was head of the short-lived Republican Movement. He also was publisher of fascist, völkisch, and antisemitic literature ...

, who was first elected in 1967. After a hostile split with Schwarzenbach in 1971, who formed the Republican Movement, the party lost most of its momentum during the 1970s. It had a strong resurgence in the early 1980s, and it won 5 seats in the 1991 federal elections, the most it had ever held. After another hostile split with former president

Valentin Oehen Valentin Oehen (26 June 1931 – 2 June 2022) was a Swiss politician. He was a member of the ''National Action against the Alienation of the People and the Home'' (renamed later in Swiss Democrats, DS). Biography Oehen became president of the '' ...

in 1986, the party was renamed to its current name in 1990. After 1998, the party lost nearly all significance in national politics because of the absorption of right-wing votes into the growing

Swiss People's Party The Swiss People's Party (german: Schweizerische Volkspartei, SVP; rm, Partida populara Svizra, PPS), also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre (french: Union démocratique du centre, UDC; it, Unione Democratica di Centro, UDC), is a nati ...

. In the 2003 federal elections, the party won 1.0% of the vote and 1 out of 200 seats in the National Council. This seat was lost in the

2007 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2007. * Electoral calendar 2007 * Elections in 2007 * 2007 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress * 2007 Algerian legislative el ...

, where the SD fell to 0.5% of the popular vote. After their severe election loss, the party congress decided not to disband but to continue competing in elections, striving to return to parliament.

Federal elections

Party presidents

Source: *

(?–1971) *Rudolf Weber (1971/72) *

(1972–1980) * Hans Zwicky (1980–1986) * Rudolf Keller (1986–2005) * Bernhard Hess (2005–2012) *

Andreas Stahel Andreas ( el, Ἀνδρέας) is a name usually given to males in Austria, Greece, Cyprus, Denmark, Armenia, Estonia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Finland, Flanders, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, the Netherlands, and Indonesia. The name ...

(2012–)

References

Bibliography

External links