Brunner effect

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In Swiss politics , the Brunner effect is an effect that occurred after the failed Federal Council election of the trade unionist Christiane Brunner on March 3, 1993. The non-election of Brunner triggered a short-lived wave of protests by women in Switzerland, which in the medium term led to an increase in the proportion of women in parliaments at cantonal and communal level in Switzerland.

prehistory

On March 3, 1993, the Federal Assembly elected a man to the Federal Council instead of the official candidate Brunner , which sparked a protest movement among the population. Finally, under the pressure of the demonstrations and his own party , the elected Francis Matthey declared his opposition to the election. For the second ballot, scheduled for March 10, the SP entered the election with a double candidacy from Brunner and Ruth Dreifuss . Around 10,000 people demonstrated on the Bundesplatz during the election. The Federal Assembly finally elected Dreifuss, a trade unionist.

Effects

The events surrounding the non-election of Brunner and the people of Brunner and Dreifuss as popular figures led to a solidarity among Swiss women that has not been seen since the introduction of women's suffrage. The women's movement , which had almost fallen asleep at this point, mobilized itself, which led to pressure on committees, associations, unions and parties and brought women's issues and demands back onto the agenda. Immediately after Brunner was not elected, an initiative committee "Women in the Federal Council" was formed and launched the Federal People's Initiative "for a fair representation of women in federal authorities (March 3 initiative)" , also known as the quota initiative 2000 was voted. The introduction of a quota for women at the federal level (National Council, Council of States, Federal Council and Federal Supreme Court) was rejected with 82 percent no votes and by all the cantons.

For about two to three years after the events surrounding Brunner's non-election, the Brunner effect was evident in the voting behavior of the Swiss. It then quickly subsided again.

literature

  • Esther Haas, Christina Beglinger: The Brunner Effect . Limmat, Zurich 1993, ISBN 3-85791-221-9 ( excerpt from Google book search [accessed July 12, 2010]).

Web links