{"id":38773,"date":"2026-06-01T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swissmig.unine.ch\/?p=38773"},"modified":"2026-05-28T15:40:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T13:40:59","slug":"explaining-the-populist-radical-rights-success-in-the-2023-swiss-national-elections-a-reference-group-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swissmig.unine.ch\/?p=38773","title":{"rendered":"Explaining the Populist Radical Right’s Success in the 2023 Swiss National Elections: A Reference Group Perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Author(s): Anke Tresch, Line Rennwald<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Source: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/spsr.70036<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Abstract<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This study analyses the success of populist radical right (PRR) parties in the 2023 Swiss elections using reference group theory. While existing literature emphasizes the influence of objective and subjective group membership on electoral choice, it often overlooks voters’ feelings toward groups they do not belong to and their perceptions of parties’ associations with these groups. We argue that this framework is key to understanding PRR voting. Like their European counterparts, Swiss PRR parties \u2013 particularly the Swiss People’s Party \u2013 mobilized group-based resentment through a campaign stigmatizing asylum seekers and migrants, and by promoting an anti-gender agenda. Using data from the Swiss Election Study (Selects), we show that negative feelings toward migrants and feminists influenced PRR voting, beyond political preferences and socio-structural factors. This resentment also helped attract new voters who had initially leaned toward centre-right parties. The study highlights the importance of group feelings in electoral behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diese Studie analysiert den Erfolg rechtspopulistischer Parteien (RPP) bei den Schweizer Wahlen 2023 unter Anwendung der Referenzgruppentheorie. W\u00e4hrend die bestehende Literatur den Einfluss objektiver und subjektiver Gruppenzugeh\u00f6rigkeit auf die Wahlentscheidung betont, vernachl\u00e4ssigt sie h\u00e4ufig die Gef\u00fchle der W\u00e4hler:innen gegen\u00fcber Gruppen, denen sie nicht angeh\u00f6ren, sowie deren Wahrnehmung der Verbindung zwischen Parteien und diesen Gruppen. Wir argumentieren, dass dieser theoretische Rahmen entscheidend ist, um das Wahlverhalten zugunsten der RPP zu verstehen. Wie ihre europ\u00e4ischen Pendants mobilisierten auch die Schweizer RPP \u2013 insbesondere die Schweizerische Volkspartei \u2013 gruppenbasiertes Ressentiment durch eine Kampagne, die Asylsuchende und Migrant:innen stigmatisierte und eine Anti-Gender-Agenda vorantrieb. Anhand von Daten der Schweizer Wahlstudie (Selects) zeigen wir, dass negative Gef\u00fchle gegen\u00fcber Migrant:innen und Feminist:innen die Wahl von RPP \u00fcber politische Pr\u00e4ferenzen und soziostrukturelle Faktoren hinaus beeinflussten. Diese Ressentiments trugen auch dazu bei, neue W\u00e4hler:innen zu gewinnen, die urspr\u00fcnglich zu Parteien der b\u00fcrgerlichen Mitte tendiert hatten. Die Studie unterstreicht die Bedeutung von Gruppengef\u00fchlen f\u00fcr das Wahlverhalten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cette \u00e9tude analyse le succ\u00e8s des partis de la droite radicale populiste lors des \u00e9lections f\u00e9d\u00e9rales suisses de 2023 en s’appuyant sur la th\u00e9orie des groupes de r\u00e9f\u00e9rence. Alors que la litt\u00e9rature existante souligne l’influence de l’appartenance objective et subjective \u00e0 un groupe sur le choix \u00e9lectoral, elle n\u00e9glige souvent les sentiments des \u00e9lecteur\u00b7rice\u00b7s envers les groupes auxquels ils\u00b7elles n’appartiennent pas, ainsi que leurs perceptions des liens entre les partis et ces groupes. Nous soutenons que ce cadre est essentiel pour comprendre le vote en faveur de la droite radicale populiste. \u00c0 l’instar de leurs homologues europ\u00e9ens, les partis de la droite radicale populiste suisse \u2013 en particulier l’Union d\u00e9mocratique du centre \u2013 ont mobilis\u00e9 un ressentiment fond\u00e9 sur le groupe par le biais d’une campagne stigmatisant les requ\u00e9rant\u00b7e\u00b7s d’asile et les migrant\u00b7e\u00b7s, tout en promouvant un programme anti-genre. En utilisant les donn\u00e9es de l’\u00c9tude \u00e9lectorale suisse (Selects), nous d\u00e9montrons que les sentiments n\u00e9gatifs \u00e0 l’\u00e9gard des migrant\u00b7e\u00b7s et des f\u00e9ministes ont influenc\u00e9 le vote pour la droite radicale populiste, au-del\u00e0 des pr\u00e9f\u00e9rences politiques et des facteurs sociostructurels. Ce ressentiment a \u00e9galement permis d’attirer de nouveaux\u00b7elles \u00e9lecteur\u00b7rice\u00b7s qui penchaient initialement vers les partis de centre-droit. L’\u00e9tude souligne l’importance des sentiments envers les groupes dans le comportement \u00e9lectoral.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Author(s): Anke Tresch, Line Rennwald Source: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/spsr.70036<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[12],"tags":[854,7,57,9,411,361,254,279,13,96,97],"class_list":["post-38773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-854","tag-article","tag-comparative-analysis","tag-english-language","tag-perception","tag-referendums-and-initiatives","tag-right-wing-radicalism","tag-socioeconomic-factors","tag-voters","tag-voting-behaviour","tag-xenophobia"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swissmig.unine.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swissmig.unine.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swissmig.unine.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swissmig.unine.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swissmig.unine.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38773"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/swissmig.unine.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38775,"href":"https:\/\/swissmig.unine.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38773\/revisions\/38775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swissmig.unine.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swissmig.unine.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swissmig.unine.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}