Consensus and Opposition in Switzerland: A Neglected Consideration

Abstract

It is sometimes argued that Switzerland has institutionalized an elaborate system of elite accommodation as a response to the potentially debilitating consequences of ethnic conflict.' Switzerland is both small and ethnically quite diverse, and many political leaders have felt the country could ill afford the costs of domestic turmoil. Consequently, minority ethnic group participation and influence in government has become a cardinal tenet of Swiss politics. Elite accommodation, however, has now come to encompass both ethnically and nonethnically related political divisions. As a result, no institutionalized opposition exists since all major political forces are represented in the government. I shall argue, however, that the outline of a party-based opposition can be found at the mass level, an opposition linked to class and removed from ethnic considerations. Although the outlines of a party-based opposition exist today at the mass level-an opposition linked to class differences and political discontent-Swiss leadership and the institutions of direct democracy impede the formation of such an opposition. Using nonmetric multidimensional scaling, this article first examines the important dimensions of Swiss partisanship. Party groupings which develop from the analysis of these dimensions are then used to help illustrate the links between class, political discontent, political images, and party-based opposition. Finally, the article addresses the constraints which discourage the formation of a party-anchored political opposition.