Swiss Review 4/2019

Swiss Review / July 2019 / No.4 21 business,” Council of States candidate, Roger Köppel (ZH), told the press recently. Köppel considers that the “secrecy of voting and elections in Switzerland is essential for the rule of law and democracy”. Transparency would impact donations What problems are caused by this lack of transparency? The political scientists contacted by “Swiss Review” say it is above all a question of ethics. “A basic level of inequal- ity already exists as interest groups do not all exert the same influence. So, at the very least, it would seem rea- sonable that the public should know who is financing what,” believes Lutz. In the researcher’s opinion, trans- parency could result in changes in the behaviour of ma- jor contributors – a concern for right-wing parties in par- ticular – but it would at least make political intention clearer. “Because if legal entities are investing in cam- paigns, it’s obviously because they expect something in return,” he points out. “If the head of Ricola invests in a campaign, he doesn’t want the brand to be associated with a particular party, because he wants to sell to every- one,” says Ladner, for whom the source of significant con- tributions is in fact no great secret. He emphasises that there is a “tendency on the right towards personal invest- ments, whereas left-wing parties tend to centralise con- tributions.” However, money is no guarantee of campaign success, and the secret of power is the ability of a group to bring to- gether majorities. As such, in 2011, the SVP spent over six times more per parliamentary seat than the Green Liberal party, who were amongst the key winners of the 2011 elec- tions, according to a study by the Sotomo institute. An in- crease in transparency would perhaps lead to a reduction in resources. For some, the solution to this problemwould be to turn to a State-financing system. But, as Andreas Lad- ner comments: “this idea is not well received by right-wing parties as taxes would have to be raised to finance it. The left-wing would be in favour, but not necessarily the vot- ers.” The researcher points out that the cantons of Geneva and Ticino have legislation on transparency but do not ap- pear to have a more peaceful political climate. Rather, well-financed populist parties are thriving. The question of inequality between parties The political scientist points out that the desire for greater transparency has come first and foremost from left-wing parties in Switzerland and at the European level from a coalition of parties that tend to have fewer resources at their disposal. “Do we have more corruption in Switzer- land? Do other countries with such a system, like France and Germany, have any less, he says. “If there really is a problem, it is more that the imbalance of resources cre- ates injustices as money enables the arguments put for- ward by a party rich in resources to be more widely dif- fused than those of the other parties.” So, what can be done? Ladner considers that “transparency could be pre- sented as a campaign argument which could work in fa- vour of those parties which choose to play this card, like the Green party”. He argues for practical and logistical support for small parties, “so they can make themselves better heard”. Ever-more expensive elections? These elections will be the costliest yet. “We hear this same statement at every election, but there is a lack of detailed data and the way ex- penses are expressed also depends on the methodology,” explains An- dreas Ladner. In 2018, the agency Media Focus estimated the advertis- ing costs for the federal campaigns at 55.5 million francs, an increase of 18.8 per cent compared to 2017. In 2015, the Selects study asked candidates how much they spent during their campaign. The answer was 29 million francs. The FDP spent the most, followed by the CVP, SVP and SP in that order. If the spending of national, cantonal and local parties as well as associations were to be factored in, this figure would be doubled. In 2015, close to 2.5 million francs in individual contribu- tions for parties was declared as tax deductible in Geneva (50 million francs throughout Switzerland as a whole). These contributions were made by 3,200 donors in a canton where donations are capped at 10,000 francs. The same research highlighted that the amount spent per voter was comparable to the figures from elections in the USA. (SH) In 2015, the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) ran the most expensive election cam- paign of all the parties. It invested CHF10.6 million in print, internet and bill- board advertising. In contrast to the The Liberals (FDP), which increased its advertising expenses, the SVP actually spent almost 2 million francs less than in 2011. Nevertheless, it succeeded in increasing its share of the vote (+2.8%) sig- nificantly more than the Liberals. 2011 and 2015 National Council and Council of States elections: the parties’ total outlay for print, internet and billboard advertising Greens 2011 2015 5 Mio. 10 Mio. BDP GLP SP CVP FDP SVP