Free Democratic Party of Switzerland













































Free Democratic Party/Radical Democratic Party



German: Freisinnig-Demokratische Partei
French: Parti radical-démocratique
Italian: Partito Liberale Radicale
Romansh: Partida liberaldemocrata svizra

Founded 1894 (1894)
Dissolved 1 January 2009; 10 years ago (2009-01-01)
Merged into FDP.The Liberals
Headquarters Neuengasse 20
Postfach 6136
CH-3001 Bern
Ideology
Liberalism (Switzerland)
Classical liberalism[1]
Conservative liberalism[2]
Political position
Centre-right[3][4]
European affiliation European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
International affiliation Liberal International
Colours
     Azure

  • Politics of Switzerland

  • Political parties

  • Elections


The Free Democratic Party or Radical Democratic Party[5][6][7][8][9] (German: Freisinnig-Demokratische Partei, FDP; French: Parti radical-démocratique, PRD; Italian: Partito liberale-radicale svizzero, PLR; Romansh: Partida liberaldemocrata svizra, PLD) was a liberal[10][11]political party in Switzerland. Formerly one of the major parties in Switzerland, on 1 January 2009 it merged with the Liberal Party of Switzerland to form FDP.The Liberals.


The FDP was formed in 1894 from the Radicals, who had dominated Swiss politics since
the 1830s, standing in opposition to the Catholic conservatives, and who from the creation of the federal state in 1848 until 1891 formed the federal government.


The FDP remained dominant until the introduction of proportional representation in 1919. From 1945 to 1987, it alternated with the Social Democratic Party to be the largest party. In 1959, the party took two seats in the magic formula. The party declined in the 1990s and 2000s (decade), as it was put under pressure by the Swiss People's Party. In response, the party formed closer relations with the smaller Liberal Party, leading to their formal merger in 2009.




Contents






  • 1 History


  • 2 Popular support


  • 3 List of party Presidents


  • 4 See also


  • 5 Footnotes


  • 6 External links





History


The elements 'liberal', 'radical' and freisinnig (an obsolete German word for 'liberal',[12] or literally "free thinking"[5]) in the party's name originate from the conflicts during the period of Swiss Restoration between the Catholic-conservative cantons and the liberal cantons. This conflict led to the foundation of the Swiss federal state in 1848 after the victory of the predominantly Protestant and liberal cantons over the conservative and Catholic ones in the Sonderbund war.


From 1848 until 1891, the Federal Council was composed entirely of Radicals. The radical movement of the restoration was anti-clerical,[6] and stood in opposition to the Catholic Conservative Party. They were otherwise heterogeneous, including and classical liberal 'Liberals', federalist 'Radicals', and social liberal 'Democrats': placing the radical movement on the 'left' of the political spectrum. It was not until the rise of the Social Democratic Party in the early 20th century that the FDP found itself on the centre-right.


The FDP was the dominant party until the 1919 election, when the introduction of proportional representation led to a leap in the representation of the Social Democrats. In 1959, the Free Democrats joined the other major parties in agreeing the 'magic formula' to divide up the seats of the Federal Council, with the FDP permanently receiving two of the seven seats.


After the 2003 elections, lawmakers of FDP and Liberal Party formed a common parliamentary group in the Federal Assembly. In June 2005, they strengthened their cooperation by founding the Radical and Liberal Union[13] They merged on 1 January 2009 to form FDP.The Liberals.



Popular support


In 2003, it held 36 mandates (out of 200) in the Swiss National Council (first chamber of the Swiss parliament); 14 (out of 46) in the second chamber and 2 out of 7 mandates in the Swiss Federal Council (executive body). By 2005, it held 27.2% of the seats in the Swiss Cantonal governments and 19.7% in the Swiss Cantonal parliaments (index "BADAC", weighted with the population and number of seats). At the last legislative elections, 22 October 2007, the party won 15.6% of the popular vote and 31 out of 200 seats.[14]



List of party Presidents


















































































































































































Name
Canton
Years
1st

Christian Friedrich Göttisheim

Basel-Stadt
1894–1896
2nd

Ernst Brenner

Basel-Stadt
1896–1897
3rd

Johannes Stössel

Zurich
1897–1898
4th

Johann Hirter

Bern
1898–1903
5th

Paul Scherrer

Basel-Stadt
1904–1906
6th

Walter Bissegger

Zurich
1907–1910
7th

Camille Decoppet

Vaud
1911–1912
8th

Félix Bonjour

Vaud
1912–1913
9th

Emil Lohner

Bern
1914–1918
10th

Robert Schöpfer

Solothurn
1919–1923
11th

Albert Meyer

Zurich
1923–1929
12th

Hermann Schüpbach

Bern
1929–1934
13th

Ernest Béguin

Neuchâtel
1934–1940
14th

Max Wey

Luzern
1940–1948
15th

Aleardo Pini

Ticino
1948–1954
16th

Eugen Dietschi

Basel-Stadt
1954–1960
17th

Nello Celio

Ticino
1960–1964
18th

Pierre Glasson

Fribourg
1964–1968
19th

Henri Schmitt

Geneva
1968–1974
20th

Fritz Honegger

Zurich
1974–1977
21st

Yann Richter

Neuchâtel
1978–1984
22nd

Bruno Hunziker

Aargau
1984–1989
23rd

Franz Steinegger

Uri
1989–2001
24th

Gerold Bührer

Schaffhausen
2001–2002
25th

Christiane Langenberger

Vaud
2002–2004
26th

Rolf Schweiger

Zug
2004
27th

Marianne Kleiner

Appenzell Innerrhoden
2004–2005
28th

Fulvio Pelli

Ticino
2005–2009


See also


  • Liberalism and radicalism in Switzerland


Footnotes





  1. ^ Jan-Erik Lane; Svante O. Ersson (1999). Politics and Society in Western Europe. SAGE Publications. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-7619-5862-8. Retrieved 19 July 2013..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}


  2. ^ Hans Slomp (2011). Europe, a Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics. ABC-CLIO. p. 489. ISBN 978-0-313-39181-1.


  3. ^ Damir Skenderovic (2009). The Radical Right in Switzerland: Continuity and Change, 1945-2000. Berghahn Books. p. 156. ISBN 978-1-84545-948-2. Retrieved 19 July 2013.


  4. ^ Hanspeter Kriesi; Laurent Bernhard (2011). The Context of the Campaigns. Political Communication in Direct Democratic Campaigns: Enlightening or Manipulating?. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 20.


  5. ^ ab Lublin, David (2014). Minority Rules: Electoral Systems, Decentralization, and Ethnoregional Party Success. Oxford University Press. pp. 232–233.


  6. ^ ab Thompson, Wayne C., ed. (2014). "Switzerland". Western Europe 2014. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 242. ISBN 978-1-4758-1230-5.


  7. ^ "FDP. The Liberals". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2014.


  8. ^ Roberts, Geoffrey K.; Hogwood, Patricia, eds. (1997). European Politics Today. Manchester University Press. p. 383.


  9. ^ Lansford, Tom, ed. (2013). "Switzerland". Political Handbook of the World 2013. CQ Press/SAGE. pp. 1400–1401. ISBN 978-1452258249.


  10. ^ Erik Lundsgaarde (2012). The Domestic Politics of Foreign Aid. Routledge. pp. 105–. ISBN 978-0-415-65695-5. Retrieved 19 July 2013.


  11. ^ Hanspeter Kriesi (31 July 2012). "Restructuring the national political space: the supply side of national electoral politics". In Hanspeter Kriesi; Edgar Grande; Martin Dolezal; Marc Helbling; Dominic Höglinger. Political Conflict in Western Europe. Cambridge University Press. p. 100. ISBN 978-1-107-02438-0. Retrieved 19 July 2013.


  12. ^ "PONS Online Dictionary German-English". 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2014.


  13. ^ "New alliance counters left-right polarisation - swissinfo".


  14. ^ "Nationalrat 2007".




External links




  • fdp.ch in German


  • prd.ch in French


  • plrt.ch in Italian


  • Young Liberals Switzerland official site of the youth branch, called jungfreisinnige schweiz (in German/French)











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