The victory of Swiss populists

"The Swiss People's Party has achieved the greatest majority since 1919 in Switzerland," writes Jürgen Dunsch, and he attempts to explain the SVP's victory: "With its simple formula, the party attracts all those who feel overwhelmed by globalisation and modernisation. And nowadays this by no means refers to just the country bumpkins. Many Swiss feel besieged, not least by the EU, which completely encircles the country. The SVP has made xenophobia socially acceptable. Now there's an opportunity to correct this through referendums on issues such as the continued free movement of persons, but the SVP has already proven that it's well able to exploit the instrument of the referendum to achieve its own ends."

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