Swiss Elections & Politics (Next election 2019)

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Isn't it usually the case that German-speaking Switzerland is more right-wing than French-speaking Switzerland? I'm hardly an expert on the matter, but that is what my observations have tended to bear out.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Isn't it usually the case that German-speaking Switzerland is more right-wing than French-speaking Switzerland? I'm hardly an expert on the matter, but that is what my observations have tended to bear out.

Yes, that's usually the case. On the one hand there is a clear urban-rural divide but there are also regional differences. Broadly speaking, the French-speaking cantons are more left-wing on economic issues and more socially liberal. Historically they also tended to be more EU-friendly than both the German-speaking and Italian areas but that's been changing lately because there aren't many Swiss people left who want the country to join the European Union.

     Indeed, the European Union doesn't look too attractive a prospect anymore, though some countries have been doing quite well with it. I'm rather proud of how Switzerland exists as a non-EU island in an EU sea.

     There is also a question that occurred to me. I found out that Germany and Italy are both significant sources of immigration to Switzerland. How well would you say that the politics of these immigrants align with those of the natural-born Swiss Germans and Swiss Italians respectively?

[Associate Justice PiT]

     It doesn't surprise me that Germany lacks a strong nationalist party like the Swiss People's Party, really. Germany is still healing from some old wounds that Switzerland didn't have to deal with. Though that still fails to explain the FPO in Austria.

     As I think I mentioned before, I have family from Switzerland. I'd like to go there one day.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     It doesn't surprise me that Germany lacks a strong nationalist party like the Swiss People's Party, really. Germany is still healing from some old wounds that Switzerland didn't have to deal with. Though that still fails to explain the FPO in Austria.

I think you (probably unconsciously) hit the point when you mentioned "old wounds". WW II has left traces in almost every German city, and destroyed lots of cultural monuments. Austria, OTOH, was mostly out of reach to allied bombing, and hardly experienced any ground fighting.

     That's an interesting thought. It never occurred to me that that might be the case, but I can see how that would work geographically.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     It seems that this is being spun as a victory for the far-right. Does that seem to be the impression on the ground in Switzerland?

[Associate Justice PiT]

    It seems that this is being spun as a victory for the far-right. Does that seem to be the impression on the ground in Switzerland?

It is certainly a victory for the SVP but it's a victory which, among other factors at play, would not have been possible without crossover support from Green Party members and voters. The Green Party Ticino, for example, publicly supported the initiative, after all.

     I was looking at the map and I saw Ticino was 68% in favor. Since they're such a small group by comparison I am less knowledgeable about them, so how do the Swiss Italians usually compare politically to the Swiss French and Swiss Germans?

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I guess the majority doesn't need to be respected. This sort of petulant whining is highly unbecoming of such a high-ranking official.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I guess the majority doesn't need to be respected. This sort of petulant whining is highly unbecoming of such a high-ranking official.

The issue is than the economical consequences in Western Switzerland would be terrible. Should we destroy the economy of French Switzerland because rural Germans aren't liking immigrants? There is limit to the majority rule.

You're Californian, you should understand that, the various initiatives almost drove California to bankrumpcy.

     If they feel that the current system is insufficient to protect them from the whims of majority rule, then they should raise that as an issue. These sorts of antics are not productive.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Talk about the importance of voting. That's pretty intense. A difference of one vote would decide the fate of three seats.

[Associate Justice PiT]

I'm fully aware than the quota-system can only be repelled by the people. But I personally think than if, at the end of the process, Switzerland has to choose between some bilateral agreements or the immigration system, I suppose than the question will be directly asked to the people.

Why do you write "than" instead of "that" ?

Given than my first language is French and the low quality of English teaching in Quebec (meaning I learned my English in video games and here), my sentence patterns are based on French grammar. I use "than" for the French "que" and that" for the French "cela". The Wiktionnary is saying than in German, "que" is "dass" and "cela" is "das".

I'm aware it's wrong, but it's deeply ingrained (than is only for comparison, I know).

     In my experience, "que" can be either "that" or "than", and "cela" would be translated as "this". I understand that linguistic habits can be tough to break, though.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I'm surprised that SVP is even really active in Ticino and Geneva, considering that I would think of it as a Swiss German movement. Is that not how it is perceived in Switzerland?