french: Parti radical-démocratique
it, Partito Liberale Radicale
rm, Partida liberaldemocrata svizra , logo = Free Democratic Party of Switzerland logo French.png , logo_size = 200px , foundation = , dissolution = , merged =

FDP.The Liberals french: PLR.Les Libéraux-Radicaux it, PLR.I Liberali Radicali rm, PLD.Ils Liberals , logo = , caption = Logo of the party in French, German, and Italian , leader1_title = President , leader1_name = Thierry Burkart ...

, headquarters = Neuengasse 20
Postfach 6136
CH-3001

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

, ideology = , position =

Centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...

, international =

Liberal International Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberal political parties - a political international. It was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties, aiming to strengthen liberalism around ...

, european = European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party , europarl = , colours =

Azure Azure may refer to: Colour * Azure (color), a hue of blue ** Azure (heraldry) ** Shades of azure, shades and variations Arts and media * ''Azure'' (Art Farmer and Fritz Pauer album), 1987 * Azure (Gary Peacock and Marilyn Crispell album), 2013 ...

, country = Switzerland The Free Democratic Party or Radical Democratic Party (german: Freisinnig-Demokratische Partei, FDP; french: Parti radical-démocratique, PRD; it, Partito liberale-radicale svizzero, PLR; rm, Partida liberaldemocrata svizra, PLD) was a

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

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 ...

. Formerly one of the

major parties A major party is a political party that holds substantial influence in a country's politics, standing in contrast to a minor party. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary: Major parties hold a significant percentage of the vote in electi ...

in Switzerland, on 1 January 2009 it merged with the

Liberal Party of Switzerland french: Parti liberal suisse it, Partito Liberale Svizzero rm, Partida liberala svizra , logo = LPS.Logo.jpg , foundation = , dissolution = , merged = FDP.The Liberals , headquarters = Spitalgasse 32, Case postale 71073001 Bern , ideology ...

to form

. The FDP was formed in 1894 from the

Radicals Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

, who had dominated Swiss politics since the 1830s, standing in opposition to the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

conservatives, and who from the creation of the

federal state A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-governi ...

in 1848 until 1891 formed the

federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

. The FDP remained dominant until the introduction of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

in 1919. From 1945 to 1987, it alternated with the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

to be the largest party. In 1959, the party took two seats in the magic formula. The party declined in the 1990s and 2000s (decade), as it was put under pressure by the

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 response, the party formed closer relations with the smaller Liberal Party, leading to their formal merger in 2009.

History

The elements '

', '

radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

' and ''freisinnig'' (an obsolete German word for 'liberal', or literally "free thinking") in the party's name originate from the conflicts during the period of Swiss

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

between the Catholic-conservative cantons and the liberal cantons. This conflict led to the foundation of the

Swiss federal state The rise of Switzerland as a federal state began on 12 September 1848, with the creation of a federal constitution in response to a 27-day civil war, the ''Sonderbundskrieg''. The constitution, which was heavily influenced by the United Stat ...

in 1848 after the victory of the predominantly

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

and liberal cantons over the conservative and Catholic ones in the Sonderbund war. Freisinnig Demokratische Partei Logo2

From 1848 until 1891, the Federal Council was composed entirely of Radicals. The radical movement of the restoration was anti-clerical, and stood in opposition to the Catholic Conservative Party, the ancestor of the modern Christian Democratic People's Party. They were otherwise heterogeneous, including and classical liberal 'Liberals',

federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

'Radicals', and

social liberal Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

'Democrats': placing the radical movement on the 'left' of the political spectrum. It was not until the rise of the

in the early 20th century that the FDP found itself on the centre-right. The FDP was the dominant party until the 1919 election, when the introduction of

led to a leap in the representation of the Social Democrats. In 1959, the Free Democrats joined the other major parties in agreeing the ' magic formula' to divide up the seats of the Federal Council, with the FDP permanently receiving two of the seven seats. After the 2003 elections, lawmakers of FDP and Liberal Party formed a common parliamentary group in the Federal Assembly. In June 2005, they strengthened their cooperation by founding the

Radical and Liberal Union Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

. They merged on 1 January 2009 to form

Election results

In 2003, it held 36 mandates (out of 200) in the Swiss National Council (first chamber of the Swiss parliament); 14 (out of 46) in the second chamber and 2 out of 7 mandates in the Swiss Federal Council (executive body). By 2005, it held 27.2% of the seats in the Swiss

Cantonal governments The 26 cantons of Switzerland (german: Kanton; french: canton ; it, cantone; Sursilvan and Surmiran: ; Vallader and Puter: ; Sutsilvan: ; Rumantsch Grischun: ) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Con ...

and 19.7% in the Swiss

Cantonal parliaments This is a list of cantonal legislatures of Switzerland. Each canton has a democratically elected cantonal legislature, as well as elected members to the Federal Assembly. The cantonal legislatures are elected for four years, except in Fribou ...

(index "BADAC", weighted with the population and number of seats). At the last

legislative elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

, 22 October 2007, the party won 15.6% of the popular vote and 31 out of 200 seats.

History

Election results

National Council

List of party Presidents

See also

Footnotes

External links