Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland

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The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland (Also called Christian-Democratic Party, German: Christlich Demokratische Volkspartei (CVP), French: Parti Démocrate-Chrétien Suisse (PDC), Italian: Partito Popolare Democratico Svizzero (PPD), Romansh: Partida Cristiandemocratica Svizra (PCD)) is a political party in Switzerland and a member of the Swiss coalition government.

[edit] History

The CVP was formed in 1912 under the name Swiss Conservative People's Party (Schweizerische Konservative Volkspartei). In 1957 it changed its name to the Conservative-Christian-Social People's Party (Konservativ-Christlichsoziale Volkspartei) and to its current name in 1970.

The CVP and its predecessors originally represented the conservative, mostly Catholic opponents of the liberal Swiss state founded in 1848. As such, it defined itself mostly in opposition to its Protestant opponents, the Radicals (now the Free Democratic Party, FDP). After the World Wars, denominational distinctions dwindled in importance, and the CVP began to be eclipsed in popularity by the Social Democrats on the Left and the Swiss People's Party on the Right. However, it remains powerful in its traditional strongholds in central Switzerland and at the Cantonal and communal level.

Since about the 1960s, the CVP has positioned itself, together with its erstwhile opponent, the FDP, in the approximate center of the Swiss political mainstream (although its elected representatives represent positions spread across a great part of the political spectrum). Its centrist, consensus-oriented politics have brought it, over the decades, a great deal of success at the policy level. However, as Swiss politics grow, in the opinion of many observers, ever more polarised, the CVP is struggling to define what exactly it stands for. Following continuing losses in the federal parliamentary elections of 1999 and 2003, the party lost one of its two seats in the coalition government, the Swiss Federal Council, to the Swiss People's Party. As of 2003, it holds roughly 15% of the national vote.

In 2003, it held 28 mandates (out of 200) in the Swiss National Council (first chamber of the Swiss parliament); 15 (out of 46) in the second chamber (largest party in this chamber) and 1 out of 7 mandates in the Swiss Federal Council (executive body). By 2005, it held 20.7% of the seats in the Swiss Cantonal governments and 16.7% in the Swiss Cantonal parliaments (index "BADAC", weighted with the population and number of seats).