Swiss parliamentary elections 1899
The Swiss parliamentary elections in 1899 took place on October 29, 1899. There were 147 seats in the National Council for election . The elections were made according to the majority vote , with the country divided into 52 national council constituencies of different sizes . Despite slight losses, the Liberal Democratic Party (FDP) was able to clearly maintain its position as the strongest force and once again won an absolute majority of the seats. The newly elected parliament met for the first time in the 18th legislative period on December 4, 1899.
Election campaign
The Catholic Lucerne daily Vaterland described the elections of 1899 as "listless". On the one hand, the electoral system hardly allows any major changes, on the other hand, arguments have largely failed to materialize during the past legislative period and there is a tendency to defuse political contradictions. The second largest political grouping, the Catholic Conservatives , lacked a uniform program and a national party leadership. There were also ideological wing struggles and the contradiction of wanting to be both an opposition and a ruling party. The FDP in turn saw itself more and more as a «hegemonic party» that wanted to address as many sections of the population as possible. It identified itself so strongly with the existing system that it sharply demarcated itself from the extreme left. Accordingly, their election manifesto was predominantly defensive.
Political impulses came much more strongly than before from economic organizations, which influenced the parties in the selection of candidates and the formulation of the programs. The greatly improved economic situation made it possible to make promising material demands. Thus the workers strove to secure a larger share of the rising national income through the broadest possible union activity . The Swiss Confederation of Trade Unions compensated for its lack of a mass base by uniting with the workers' association, which has a large number of members but is not very active . The workers used the farmers as a model, who had founded the Swiss Farmers' Union in 1897, a modern-day interest group. Another organizational adjustment took place in the canton of Zurich with the merger of the Social Democrats and the Grütliverein , which anticipated a nationwide merger.
During the 17th legislative period , there were twelve replacement elections in ten electoral districts due to vacancies, with the FDP having to accept three seat losses. In 1899 there were a total of 63 ballots (two more than three years earlier). In 44 of 52 constituencies, the elections were already decided after the first ballot. With the last ballot on January 21, 1900, the National Council was complete. The turnout fell compared to 1896 by 1.4 percentage points. The canton of Schaffhausen usually had the highest value , where 86.4% cast their votes due to mandatory voting. Otherwise only the canton of Aargau recorded over 80% participation . Participation was lowest in the canton of Obwalden , where only 21.3% took part in the elections. The FDP and the Liberals lost a few seats, while the Catholic Conservatives and Social Democrats were able to gain slightly.
Result of the National Council elections
Overall result
Of the 737,696 adult male eligible voters, 401,750 took part in the elections, which corresponds to a turnout of 54.5%.
The 147 seats in the National Council were distributed as follows:
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Note: Candidates can only be assigned to parties and political groups to a limited extent (with the exception of the Liberals and Social Democrats). In line with the political reality of the late 19th century, one can rather speak of party currents or directions, the boundaries of which are partially 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 |
FDP | KK | LM | DL | SP | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Aargau
|
10 | 4th | 82.0% | 7th | 1 | 2 | |||||||
 Appenzell Ausserrhoden
|
3 | 1 | 68.3% | 3 | |||||||||
 Appenzell Innerrhoden
|
1 | 1 | 79.7% | 1 | |||||||||
 Basel-Country
|
3 | 1 | 43.4% | 2 | - | −1 | 1 | +1 | |||||
 Basel city
|
4th | 1 | 47.6% | 1 | −1 | 2 | +1 | 1 | |||||
 Bern
|
27 | 7th | 46.4% | 24 | −1 | 1 | −1 | 2 | +2 | ||||
 Freiburg
|
6th | 3 | 40.0% | 1 | 5 | ||||||||
 Geneva
|
5 | 1 | 55.3% | 3 | 1 | −1 | 1 | +1 | |||||
 Glarus
|
2 | 1 | 55.7% | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
 Grisons
|
5 | 3 | 67.9% | 1 | +1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 1 | ||||
 Lucerne
|
7th | 3 | 28.9% | 2 | 5 | ||||||||
 Neuchâtel
|
5 | 1 | 49.5% | 4th | 1 | ||||||||
 Nidwalden
|
1 | 1 | 37.3% | 1 | |||||||||
 Obwalden
|
1 | 1 | 21.3% | 1 | |||||||||
 Schaffhausen
|
2 | 1 | 86.4% | 2 | |||||||||
 Schwyz
|
3 | 1 | 58.3% | 3 | |||||||||
 Solothurn
|
4th | 1 | 49.8% | 3 | 1 | ||||||||
 St. Gallen
|
11 | 5 | 77.2% | 3 | 6th | +1 | - | −1 | 2 | ||||
 Ticino
|
6th | 2 | 34.2% | 4th | −2 | 2 | +2 | ||||||
 Thurgau
|
5 | 1 | 75.4% | 4th | +2 | - | −3 | 1 | +1 | ||||
 Uri
|
1 | 1 | 42.1% | 1 | |||||||||
 Vaud
|
12 | 3 | 40.5% | 9 | 3 | ||||||||
 Valais
|
5 | 3 | 43.1% | 1 | 4th | ||||||||
 train
|
1 | 1 | 74.2% | 1 | |||||||||
 Zurich
|
17th | 4th | 65.6% | 8th | −1 | 6th | 2 | 1 | +1 | ||||
| Switzerland | 147 | 52 | 54.5% | 84 | −2 | 32 | +2 | 20th | −3 | 7th | ± 0 | 4th | +3 |
Council of States elections
The members of the Council of States in 16 cantons were free to choose who were eligible to vote : in the cantons of Basel-Landschaft , Basel-Stadt , Geneva , Graubünden , Schwyz , Solothurn , Ticino , Thurgau , Zug and Zurich at the ballot box, and in the cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden , Appenzell Innerrhoden , Glarus , Nidwalden , Obwalden and Uri an der Landsgemeinde . In all other cantons, the election was made indirectly by the respective cantonal parliaments . In many cantons the elections to the Council of States did not take place at the same time as the elections to the National Council.
Distribution of seats
The distribution of seats in the Council of States was as follows:
| Political party | Mandates |
|---|---|
| FDP | 26th |
| CIP | 16 |
| LPS | 1 |
| DP | 1 |
Elected Councils of State
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, second part, pp. 743-745.
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, second part, pp. 746-747.
- ↑ 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. 750.
- ↑ 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. 249-259
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 3, p. 362.
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