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Party Unity in the Swiss Parliament. The Electoral Connection

Type of publication Peer-reviewed
Publikationsform Original article (peer-reviewed)
Author Traber Denise, Hug Simon, Sciarini Pascal, Traber Denise, Hug Simon, Sciarini Pascal,
Project Understanding Roll Call Vote Requests and their Consequences
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Original article (peer-reviewed)

Journal Journal of Legislative Studies
Volume (Issue) NA(NA)
Page(s) NA - NA
Title of proceedings Journal of Legislative Studies

Abstract

This study investigates the connection between legislative and electoral politics in Switzerland. We postulate that party unity is higher in the election year, and more specifically in votes on issues that are important for the party platform and that are of greater visibility to voters. We analyze the entire voting record of the Swiss parliament (lower house) on legislative acts between 1996 and 2007, which consists of roll call votes as well as unpublished votes. We find a strong effect of elections on voting unity among certain parties, and we also find encouraging support for our hypotheses that this effect is mediated by the importance of the vote.
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