Swiss parliamentary elections 1917
The Swiss parliamentary elections in 1917 took place on October 28, 1917. 189 seats in the National Council were available for election . The elections were held for the last time according to the majority vote , with the country being divided into 49 national council constituencies of different sizes . The election campaign was marked by the social tensions during the First World War . Despite a sharp drop in the share of the vote, the Free Democratic Party (FDP) was able to win the absolute majority of the seats for the last time. The newly elected parliament met for the first time in the 24th legislative period on December 3, 1917.
Election campaign
The Social Democratic Party (SP), which was particularly affected by the Zimmerwald Conference in German-speaking Switzerland , decided in November 1915 to no longer adhere to the “truce” agreed at the beginning of World War I and now saw itself as a “revolutionary action of the working class ». Due to the slide to the left, there was a break with the Grütliverein in 1916 . By rejecting national defense at the party congress in Bern in June 1917, the SP took on clear anti-militarist traits, and moderate representatives like Herman Greulich saw themselves as a minority. In view of the widespread misery as a result of the economic hardship caused by the war (see Switzerland in the First World War ), there was a rapprochement between the party wings before the elections.
The prelude to the election campaign was formed by “price increases demonstrations ” on August 30, 1917 in numerous Swiss cities, with which the SP defied the ban on demonstrations imposed by the Federal Council . The middle class should show solidarity with the workers, at the same time the dominant Free Democratic Party (FDP) should be branded as a representative of big farmers, traders and bankers, who could only stay in power thanks to the electoral system. With the increase in latent social tensions, the differences within the FDP became more and more pronounced. The trench between the left and right wing widened. The young liberals saw themselves as representatives of employees and civil servants, and as they approached the labor movement they developed into rivals of the mother party. The left-wing course of the young liberals was so pronounced that they were criticized as the "shock troop of the Social Democrats". In rural regions, the rural population began to increasingly turn away from freedom. Newly emerging peasant movements put up their own candidates and thus formed the nucleus for the later farmers, trade and citizens' party (BGB). The Conservative People's Party supported liberalism in questions of financial policy, but advocated proportional representation ; the Christian social wing harbored certain sympathies for the SP.
During the 23rd legislative period , there were twelve replacement elections in ten electoral districts due to vacancies, in which the liberals lost four seats. In 1917 there were a total of 64 ballots (ten more than three years earlier). In 35 of 49 constituencies, the elections were decided after the first ballot. With the last ballot on December 9, 1917, the National Council was complete. The turnout increased by 13.4 percentage points compared to 1914. The highest value was recorded in the canton of Schaffhausen , where 86.8% cast their votes due to the mandatory voting there. The voters in the canton of Uri showed the least interest with a turnout of only 23.4%. Despite nine lost seats and a 15% decrease in the share of the vote, the liberals were again able to maintain just under the absolute majority of the seats. The fact that the Social Democrats were only able to win four seats despite tripling the share of the vote was due to the strong distortions caused by the majority vote.
In 1913, the SP, together with the Catholic Conservatives, submitted a federal popular initiative “for the proportional representation of the National Council” (the third on this subject). Due to the war, however, the Federal Assembly delayed deliberations on this for several years. The election result of 1917 clearly showed that the previous system could no longer be maintained. On October 13, 1918, the initiative was accepted with 66.8% of the vote. In the wake of the state strike in November 1918, it was decided to shorten the legislative period by one year, so that the new electoral procedure was used for the first time in 1919.
Between 1917 and 1919, ten replacement elections were held in nine constituencies due to vacancies. Two further replacement elections were not held due to the imminent system change. During the legislative period, eight national councilors resigned from the FDP and joined the forerunners of the BGB. In the end, the liberals only had a majority of one seat.
Result of the National Council elections
Overall result
Of the 915,552 adult male eligible voters, 547,652 took part in the elections, which corresponds to a turnout of 59.8%.
The 189 seats in the National Council were distributed as follows:
* 1 seat for independents, 3 seats for BB |
|
Results in the cantons
The table below shows the distribution of seats won by cantons.
| Canton | seats total |
electoral circles |
participating pation |
FDP | CIP | SP | LPS | DL | BB | independent | DVV | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Aargau
|
12 | 4th | 79.2% | 9 | 3 | ||||||||||||||
 Appenzell Ausserrhoden
|
3 | 1 | 64.5% | 2 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
 Appenzell Innerrhoden
|
1 | 1 | 72.4% | 1 | |||||||||||||||
 Basel-Country
|
4th | 1 | 47.7% | 3 | 1 | +1 | - | −1 | |||||||||||
 Basel city
|
7th | 1 | 76.2% | 2 | 1 | +1 | 1 | −2 | 1 | −1 | 1 | +1 | 1 | +1 | |||||
 Bern
|
32 | 7th | 62.0% | 20th | −4 | 3 | +1 | 8th | +4 | 1 | −1 | ||||||||
 Freiburg
|
7th | 2 | 32.5% | 2 | 5 | ||||||||||||||
 Geneva
|
8th | 1 | 52.3% | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||||
 Glarus
|
2 | 1 | 56.4% | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
 Grisons
|
6th | 1 | 58.6% | 4th | 2 | +1 | - | −1 | |||||||||||
 Lucerne
|
8th | 3 | 39.8% | 3 | 5 | ||||||||||||||
 Neuchâtel
|
7th | 1 | 62.2% | 3 | −1 | 2 | 2 | +1 | |||||||||||
 Nidwalden
|
1 | 1 | 26.4% | 1 | |||||||||||||||
 Obwalden
|
1 | 1 | 23.4% | 1 | |||||||||||||||
 Schaffhausen
|
2 | 1 | 86.8% | 2 | |||||||||||||||
 Schwyz
|
3 | 1 | 59.4% | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
 Solothurn
|
6th | 1 | 44.6% | 2 | −2 | 2 | +1 | 2 | +1 | ||||||||||
 St. Gallen
|
15th | 5 | 77.3% | 7th | 6th | 2 | |||||||||||||
 Ticino
|
8th | 2 | 34.4% | 6th | +1 | 2 | - | −1 | |||||||||||
 Thurgau
|
7th | 1 | 78.4% | 4th | 1 | 1 | 1 | +1 | - | −1 | |||||||||
 Uri
|
1 | 1 | 30.3% | 1 | |||||||||||||||
 Vaud
|
16 | 3 | 46.7% | 11 | 5 | ||||||||||||||
 Valais
|
6th | 2 | 50.1% | 1 | 5 | ||||||||||||||
 train
|
1 | 1 | 49.6% | 1 | |||||||||||||||
 Zurich
|
25th | 5 | 70.9% | 15th | −3 | 7th | +1 | - | −1 | 2 | +2 | 1 | +1 | ||||||
| Switzerland | 189 | 49 | 59.8% | 103 | –9 | 41 | +4 | 22nd | +4 | 12 | -4 | 7th | +3 | 3 | +3 | 1 | ± 0 | - | -1 |
Council of States
The members of the Council of States in 19 cantons were able to choose who are eligible to vote : In the cantons of Aargau , Basel-Landschaft , Basel-Stadt , Geneva , Graubünden , Lucerne , Schwyz , Solothurn , Ticino , Thurgau , Vaud , Zug and Zurich at the ballot box, in the cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden , Appenzell Innerrhoden , Glarus , Nidwalden , Obwalden and Uri at the 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 1917 | Elections 1914 |
|---|---|---|
| FDP | 24 | 24 |
| CIP | 16 | 16 |
| LPS | 2 | 2 |
| DP | 1 | 1 |
| SP | 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
- ↑ Social Democrat. Party of Switzerland: Minutes of the negotiations of the party congress in Zurich, November 4th and 5th in the Gesellschaftshaus on "Kaufleuten". o. o. u. J., p. 122 ff.
- ↑ Prokoll on the negotiations of the extraordinary congress of the Social Democratic Party of 9 and 10 June 1917 at the Volkshaus Bern. Bern 1917, p. 108 ff.
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, second part, pp. 787-788.
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, second part, pp. 789-791.
- ^ Federal popular initiative 'for the proportional representation of the National Council'. admin.ch , August 12, 2014, accessed on August 18, 2014 .
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, second part, p. 797.
- ↑ 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. 795.
- ↑ 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. 313–323
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 3, p. 368.
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