Swiss parliamentary elections 1851
The Swiss parliamentary elections in 1851 took place on October 26, 1851. There was a choice of 120 seats in the National Council . The elections were made according to the majority vote , with the country divided into 49 national council constituencies of different sizes . In these elections, the liberals (or radical liberals) were again able to achieve a clear victory despite minor losses. They won an absolute majority in terms of both the share of the vote and the number of seats. Above all, the liberal center and the Catholic conservatives made gains. In all cantons the elections to the Council of States were indirect and took place through the respective cantonal parliaments . The newly elected parliament met for the first time in the 2nd legislative period on December 1, 1851.
New division of constituencies and electoral law
In 1848, due to a lack of time, no uniform National Council election law could be drawn up at federal level, which is why the determination of the electoral modalities and electoral districts was largely left to the individual cantons. In addition, after the census results of 1850 were available, a new division of the constituencies was necessary anyway. In accordance with the principle that a National Council must represent 20,000 souls (residents) or a fraction of over 10,000 souls, the total number of seats increased from 111 to 120. The nine additional mandates went to the cantons of Aargau (+1) , Bern (+3), Glarus (+1), Lucerne (+1), Neuchâtel (+1), Vaud (+1) and Zurich (+1).
The Federal Council started a consultation process in the summer of 1850 . The majority of the cantons requested essentially wanted to keep the order of 1848 and saw no fundamental need for change. The national council commission, chaired by Alfred Escher , came to the conclusion that in order to secure a free-thinking, liberal majority, the determination of the electoral districts had to be the responsibility of the federal government and should not be left to the cantons, otherwise the conservative opposition could benefit from it. The commission proposed an optimal size for constituencies: a constituency should not have more than four seats. On the other hand, the creation of single constituencies should be avoided if possible, unless the geographical conditions did not allow any other meaningful division.
The subsequent council negotiations showed that the free-thinking council majority did not consistently adhere to these principles, but deviated from them in some cantons if it served their interests. In the end, only ten constituencies had the “optimal” size of four seats. For example, the canton of Lucerne was divided into three constituencies with 2, 2 and 3 seats instead of two constituencies with 4 and 3 seats, as this would otherwise have favored the conservatives. The situation was similar in the canton of St. Gallen (four times 2 seats instead of two times 4 seats), in the canton of Valais (1, 1 and 2 seats instead of once 4 seats) and in the canton of Graubünden (four times 1 seat instead of once 4 seats). The cantons of Aargau and Ticino , which in 1848 had formed a single constituency with a number of seats above the “four-optimal”, were divided into three or two constituencies, whereby care was taken when drawing the boundaries to favor the liberal forces if possible. In the canton of Thurgau, on the other hand, four single-constituencies were combined to form a four-person constituency, and in the canton of Schwyz two single-constituencies became a two-person constituency.
After the approval of the National Council and the Council of States, the “Federal Act on the Election of Members of the National Council” came into force on December 21, 1850. It provided for a total of 49 constituencies (previously 52). The last Sunday in October was set as the election date for the first ballot, while the cantons could set the date of any further ballots themselves. It was also up to the cantons whether they wanted to enable voting in each municipality, in one place per cantonal constituency or at electoral meetings. In order to be elected, an absolute majority of votes was required in the first and second ballot; in the third ballot, a relative majority was sufficient.
Election campaign
In the first elections to the National Council, the liberals had won an overwhelming majority due to the almost non-existent opposition. In 1851 they saw themselves pushed into the position of defense, especially since the liberal revolutions of 1848/49 had almost all failed. There were fears that reactionary neighboring states could intervene in Switzerland and, with the help of conservatives in their own country, undo the liberal gains of 1848. A warning was the conservative election victory in the canton of Bern in the Grand Council elections of 1850. A similar election result at federal level should be prevented by all means. In general, however, the liberals agreed that the extreme radicalism of earlier days was no longer necessary for the preservation of the federal state, but rather a more moderate attitude characterized by reconciliation and understanding. The conservative opposition, which for the first time ever exhibited a certain degree of organization, also endeavored to adopt a more balancing position. She avoided making reactionary demands and advocated federalism or focused on non-partisan economic interests .
During the first legislative period , there were a total of 19 substitute elections in 17 constituencies due to vacancies . Although more than one-sixth of the National Council was renewed in this way, there were no significant changes in party politics. In the elections of 1851 there were significantly more candidates than three years earlier, but the elections in 40 constituencies were decided after the first round. In eight constituencies, additional elections were necessary due to successful double candidatures. All seven Federal Councilors ran for the first time in a so-called compliment election . In other words, they stood for election as national councilors in order to have the voters confirm their legitimacy as members of the state government. The subsequent elections that became necessary were completed on January 11, 1852, with the National Council being complete. There were a total of 76 ballots, 10 fewer than three years ago (the elections in the rural parish cantons are not included).
The election campaign was particularly intense in the canton of Bern, where the turnout was 86.6 percent, which is more than four times as high as in 1848. This strong mobilization was the result of tight organization and passionate debates. The free-spirited top candidate Jakob Stämpfli , who was elected President of the National Council in July 1851, served a 30-day prison sentence for “press offenses” in the autumn. His release on October 4th was used for a large rally against the conservative cantonal government. In contrast, the election campaign was practically non-existent in the canton of Zurich, where only 13.4 percent of the voters cast their votes.
Result of the National Council elections
Overall result
Of 517,020 adult male eligible voters, 276,997 took part in the elections, which corresponds to a turnout of 53.6%. The cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden , Appenzell Innerrhoden , Glarus , Obwalden , Nidwalden and Uri are not included in these figures : There the election was made by the respective regional municipality , which is why no exact results are available.
The 120 seats in the National Council were distributed as follows:
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Note: An assignment of candidates to parties and political groups is only possible to a limited extent. In line with the political reality of the 19th century, one can rather speak of party currents or directions, the boundaries of which are partly fluid. The party names used are therefore an ideological assessment.
Results in the cantons
The table below shows the distribution of seats won by cantons.
| Canton | seats total |
electoral circles |
participating pation |
FL | LM | KK | HE | DL | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Aargau
|
10 | 3 | 80.8% | 4th | −4 | 3 | +2 | 3 | +3 | ||||
 Appenzell Ausserrhoden
|
2 | 1 | - | 2 | |||||||||
 Appenzell Innerrhoden
|
1 | 1 | - | 1 | |||||||||
 Basel-Country
|
2 | 1 | 24.2% | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
 Basel city
|
1 | 1 | 43.5% | 1 | |||||||||
 Bern
|
23 | 6th | 86.6% | 15th | +2 | - | −3 | 3 | +3 | 5 | +1 | ||
 Freiburg
|
5 | 2 | 21.0% | 5 | +1 | - | −1 | ||||||
 Geneva
|
3 | 1 | 42.5% | 3 | |||||||||
 Glarus
|
2 | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | +1 | |||||||
 Grisons
|
4th | 4th | 52.5% | 1 | −1 | 2 | +1 | 1 | |||||
 Lucerne
|
7th | 3 | 41.2% | 4th | 1 | 2 | +1 | ||||||
 Neuchâtel
|
4th | 1 | 26.9% | 4th | +1 | ||||||||
 Nidwalden
|
1 | 1 | - | 1 | |||||||||
 Obwalden
|
1 | 1 | - | 1 | |||||||||
 Schaffhausen
|
2 | 1 | 36.9% | 2 | |||||||||
 Schwyz
|
2 | 1 | 14.3% | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
 Solothurn
|
3 | 1 | 37.4% | 3 | |||||||||
 St. Gallen
|
8th | 4th | 68.3% | 7th | +1 | 1 | −1 | ||||||
 Ticino
|
6th | 2 | 65.9% | 4th | −2 | 2 | +2 | ||||||
 Thurgau
|
4th | 1 | 85.2% | 4th | +2 | - | −2 | ||||||
 Uri
|
1 | 1 | - | 1 | |||||||||
 Vaud
|
10 | 3 | 48.4% | 5 | −2 | 4th | +4 | 1 | −1 | ||||
 Valais
|
4th | 3 | 35.7% | 2 | 2 | ||||||||
 train
|
1 | 1 | 23.7% | 1 | |||||||||
 Zurich
|
13 | 4th | 13.4% | 11 | +1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Switzerland | 120 | 49 | 53.6% | 78 | −1 | 16 | +5 | 16 | +7 | 7th | +1 | 3 | −3 |
literature
- Erich Gruner : The elections to the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 . tape 1 , first part. Francke Verlag, Bern 1978, ISBN 3-7720-1442-9 .
- Erich Gruner: The elections to the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 . tape 1 , second part. Francke Verlag, Bern 1978, ISBN 3-7720-1443-7 .
- Erich Gruner: The elections to the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 . tape 2 . Francke Verlag, Bern 1978, ISBN 3-7720-1444-5 (notes).
- Erich Gruner: The elections to the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 . tape 3 . Francke Verlag, Bern 1978, ISBN 3-7720-1445-3 (tables, graphics, maps).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, first part, p. 330.
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, first part, p. 332.
- ↑ Gruner: The elections to the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, first part, p. 333.
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, first part, pp. 336–337.
- ^ Federal law on the election of members of the National Council (of December 21, 1850). (PDF, 676 kB) In: Federal Gazette No. 61 of December 28, 1850. admin.ch , May 21, 2013, accessed on July 1, 2014 .
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, second part, pp. 618–620.
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, second part, p. 621.
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848–1919 , Volume 1, second part, pp. 622–624.
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 3, p. 369.
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, second part, p. 626.
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 3, p. 485.
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 3, pp. 27-40
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 3, p. 346.
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