Les parlementaires suisses entre démocratisation et professionnalisation, 1910-2000

Abstract

The analysis of political elites' sociographical profile, especially of Members of Parliament, has largely been neglected by Swiss researchers since the 1970s. Moreover, Switzerland was not included in the recent comparative study on different European parliaments (Best and Cotta 2000, 2007). This article aims, on the one hand, to put the Swiss case into perspective and, on the other hand, to develop further the analysis conducted during the 1970s by focusing on recent changes. Based on the sociographical analysis for five cohorts of Swiss MPs (1910, 1937, 1957, 1980, 2000) during the 20th century, we can highlight the evolution of the parliament's composition in terms of its democratization and recent professionalization. Our results allow us to point out the Swiss parliament's specificities in comparison with other European parliaments. Primarily, these specificities are the predominance of self-employed persons, especially lawyers, and an underrepresentation of public employees. The Swiss MPs are also characterized by a stronger background in local politics and very high parliamentary longevity. The recent process of professionalization has promoted the emergence of new sociological profiles of MPs in terms of educational background, political career and the number of political mandates held simultaneously, however with important variations between parties. © (2010) Swiss Political Science Review.