Swiss parliamentary elections 1902
The Swiss parliamentary elections in 1902 took place on October 26, 1902. There was a choice of 167 seats in the National Council (20 more than before). The elections were made according to the majority vote , with the country divided into 49 national council constituencies of different sizes . The Free Democratic Party (FDP), in particular, benefited from the increase in the number of seats , which was able to further expand its dominant position and for the first time united more than half of all voters. The newly elected parliament met for the first time on December 1, 1902 during the 19th legislative period .
Reallocation of constituencies
Based on the results of the 1900 census , the law required a new division of the constituencies. In accordance with the principle laid down in 1848 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 147 to 167 (which is particularly due to the sharp rise in immigration of foreigners was due). Of the 20 additional mandates, five went to the canton of Zurich , two each to the cantons of Basel-Stadt , Bern , Geneva , St. Gallen and Vaud, and one each to the cantons of Neuchâtel , Solothurn , Ticino , Thurgau and Valais . The once important "optimal size" of four seats per constituency became less and less important. For the first time, there was a constituency of nine around the city of Zurich and a constituency of seven in the cantons of Geneva and Vaud .
On November 4, 1900, a popular initiative calling for the introduction of proportional representation was rejected with 59.1% of the vote. The FDP had successfully argued that “voluntary proportional representation” (a majority party voluntarily leaves one or more seats in an electoral district to the opposition) is significantly more effective in achieving the desired goal of protecting minorities. In doing so, however, the minority was entirely dependent on the goodwill of the majority, and in some cases the liberals did not keep this promise. Uneven population growth made it necessary to adjust the constituency boundaries in several cantons. In its draft law, the Federal Council took into account the wishes of liberally dominated cantonal governments in several cases. In this way, it was above all the social democrats in the canton of Zurich that were disadvantaged, and the Catholic conservatives in the canton of Lucerne . Since voluntary proportional representation worked in the canton of Ticino, the expansion of the southern constituency at the expense of the northern constituency was undisputed, as was a minor adjustment in the canton of St. Gallen. In the canton of Valais, two conservative constituencies were merged; in the canton of Graubünden , the three previous constituencies were replaced by a single one. Since no existing constituencies were split up, their number decreased from 52 to 49.
With the approval of the National Council and the Council of States , the “Federal Law on the National Council constituencies” came into force on June 4, 1902. Catholic-conservative circles from the canton of Lucerne wanted to overthrow the new law by means of a referendum , but could not collect the necessary number of signatures. In response to the results of the census of 1900, which mainly resulted in urban cantons winning seats, a popular initiative “for the election of the National Council based on the Swiss resident population” was submitted. She demanded that only Swiss citizens be taken into account when allocating seats; Rural, conservative cantons in particular have benefited from this. The initiative targeted the Social Democrats in particular as representatives of the interests of foreign workers, which is why they had certain xenophobic features. It was clearly rejected on October 25, 1903 with 75.6% of the vote.
Election campaign
The political parties were more and more clearly overlaid by economic interests. In view of the impending tariff treaty negotiations with various states, the farmers in particular strove to increase their previously limited political influence. The Swiss Farmers' Association actively supported candidates from various parties who campaigned for an agricultural-friendly design of customs tariffs or who were otherwise associated with the farming community. Under the influence of the farmer's association director Ernst Laur , a majority front that was friendly to protection and fighting customs had formed in the councils, which also included representatives from industry and commerce. Just three weeks before the elections, the Federal Assembly approved the new customs tariff. This immediately provoked fierce opposition from a broad coalition of interests, which feared a general rise in price levels. The "League Against the New Customs Tariff", which began to collect signatures for a referendum, brought together very different groups such as the Social Democrats , the consumer associations , the city association, as well as representatives from tourism and export-oriented industries.
The state-sponsored FDP gradually lost its progressive momentum and transformed into a party of preservation and preservation. In their opinion, the liberals are best suited to lead the state tax, since the political opponents have no viable alternatives to offer. From left and right there was contradiction to this assessment. The left accused liberalism of aping foreign militarism and alienating the army from the people. The Catholic newspaper Vaterland, on the other hand, described freedom as "an indefinite something without a deeper spiritual and moral content and backbone". Impressed by the increasingly self-confident peasants, the labor movement also strived for a more streamlined organization. In the so-called "Solothurn Wedding" in September 1901, the Grütliverein merged with the Social Democrats. Various strikes before the elections led to accusations that social democracy was in league with international anarchism . A general strike in Geneva caused particularly violent clashes , which was broken up in October 1902 with a massive deployment of troops. The Catholic Conservatives were still barely noticeable in the election campaign because of their inner turmoil.
During the 18th legislative period there were 20 substitute elections in 17 electoral districts due to vacancies, with only minor shifts in seats. In 1902 there were a total of 58 ballots (five fewer than three years earlier). In 40 of 49 constituencies, the elections were decided after the first ballot. With the last ballot on November 13, 1902, the National Council was complete. The turnout increased by 2.3 percentage points compared to 1899. The canton of Schaffhausen usually had the highest value , where 85.8% cast their vote due to the mandatory voting there. Otherwise only the canton of St. Gallen recorded more than 80% participation . Participation was lowest in the canton of Obwalden , where only 21.4% took part in the elections. The clear election winner was the FDP, which won 16 seats and benefited most from the increase in the number of seats. For the first time ever, it achieved an absolute majority not only in terms of the number of seats, but also in terms of the proportion of voters. The Catholic Conservatives and Social Democrats rose slightly, while the Democrats were the only party to lose seats. The Bern People's Party was represented in the National Council for the first time with Ulrich Dürrenmatt .
Result of the National Council elections
Overall result
Of 760,252 adult male eligible voters, 431,670 took part in the elections, which corresponds to a voter turnout of 56.8%.
The 167 seats in the National Council were distributed as follows:
* 1 seat for the BVP |
|
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 early 20th 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 | SP | DL | BVP | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Aargau
|
10 | 4th | 79.3% | 7th | 2 | +1 | 1 | −1 | |||||||
 Appenzell Ausserrhoden
|
3 | 1 | 68.7% | 3 | |||||||||||
 Appenzell Innerrhoden
|
1 | 1 | 79.6% | 1 | |||||||||||
 Basel-Country
|
3 | 1 | 27.2% | 2 | 1 | ||||||||||
 Basel city
|
6th | 1 | 49.2% | 3 | +2 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||
 Bern
|
29 | 7th | 49.9% | 24 | 2 | +1 | 2 | 1 | +1 | ||||||
 Freiburg
|
6th | 3 | 37.8% | 1 | 5 | ||||||||||
 Geneva
|
7th | 1 | 60.1% | 2 | −1 | 1 | +1 | 4th | +3 | - | −1 | ||||
 Glarus
|
2 | 1 | 57.8% | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
 Grisons
|
5 | 1 | 64.3% | 3 | +2 | 1 | 1 | −1 | - | −1 | |||||
 Lucerne
|
7th | 3 | 46.6% | 3 | +1 | 4th | −1 | ||||||||
 Neuchâtel
|
6th | 1 | 58.6% | 5 | +1 | 1 | |||||||||
 Nidwalden
|
1 | 1 | 29.1% | 1 | |||||||||||
 Obwalden
|
1 | 1 | 21.4% | 1 | |||||||||||
 Schaffhausen
|
2 | 1 | 85.8% | 2 | |||||||||||
 Schwyz
|
3 | 1 | 25.3% | 3 | |||||||||||
 Solothurn
|
5 | 1 | 73.7% | 4th | +1 | 1 | |||||||||
 St. Gallen
|
13 | 5 | 82.4% | 4th | +1 | 6th | 2 | +2 | 1 | −1 | |||||
 Ticino
|
7th | 2 | 44.9% | 5 | +1 | 2 | |||||||||
 Thurgau
|
6th | 1 | 79.4% | 5 | +1 | 1 | |||||||||
 Uri
|
1 | 1 | 42.6% | 1 | |||||||||||
 Vaud
|
14th | 3 | 41.8% | 10 | +1 | 4th | +1 | ||||||||
 Valais
|
6th | 2 | 47.6% | 1 | 5 | +1 | |||||||||
 train
|
1 | 1 | 24.1% | 1 | |||||||||||
 Zurich
|
22nd | 4th | 64.7% | 14th | +6 | 4th | −2 | 3 | +2 | 1 | −1 | ||||
| Switzerland | 167 | 49 | 56.8% | 100 | +16 | 35 | +3 | 20th | ± 0 | 7th | +3 | 4th | −3 | 1 | +1 |
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 | Elections 1902 | Elections 1899 |
|---|---|---|
| FDP | 26th | 26th |
| KK | 16 | 16 |
| LM | 1 | 1 |
| DL | 1 | 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, first part, p. 374.
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, first part, pp. 369-370.
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, first part, pp. 370–373.
- ^ Federal law on the electoral districts of the National Council (of June 4, 1902). (PDF, 281 kB) In: Federal Gazette No. 24 of June 11, 1902. admin.ch, May 21, 2013, accessed on August 6, 2014 .
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, first part, pp. 373–376.
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, second part, pp. 756-757.
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, second part, pp. 752-753.
- ↑ 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 1, second part, pp. 753-755.
- ↑ 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. 759.
- ↑ 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. 261-273
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 3, p. 363.
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