The electoral importance and evolution of climate‐related energy policy: evidence from Switzerland

Abstract

In this study, we provide descriptive evidence on the importance and evolution of climate‐related energy policy in Swiss elections over the past 15 years. We combined data collected by us on the issue of energy transition (as the primary policy tool to prevent climate change) in party manifestos with the results of recent Swiss election studies on voter preferences. Our findings indicate that energy and environmental issues have become increasingly polarizing for both parties and voters. This development was mainly driven by the populist right SVP. Simultaneously, the salience of the issue has risen across the electorate and for parties on the right of the political divide. However, issue owning green parties are particularly devoting less attention to energy and environmental issues, narrowing the space in which parties compete along this dimension and disregarding the strong upward trend of these issues among their core voters.

Web and Mobile Platforms for Managing Elections Based on Iot and Machine Learning Algorithms

“…This paper renders a survey of various kinds of electronic voting systems with their strengths and defects. [14] The introduction of technology into voting systems can bring several benefits, such as improving accessibility, remote voting, and efficient, accurate processing of votes.…”

Wind Turbines, Public Acceptance, and Electoral Outcomes

“…Similarly, there are also reports that local wind turbines increase turnout and affect vote choice. On the other hand, political parties increasingly make their views heard on energy policy, including the transition to renewables through wind turbines, suggesting that they expect there are votes to be won and lost over this issue (Lüth & Schaffer, 2022).…”

Introduction to the Special Issue “The 2019 Swiss National Elections”

“…The environmental issue is taken up by a first set of papers. The contribution by Lüth and Schaffer (2022) examines environmental and energy policy over two decades by combining data from party manifestos with voter preferences as measured in the Selects post‐election surveys between 2007–2019. The authors find that issues related to climate change are now more polarized than they used to be, which shows that environmental issues can no longer be simply treated as valence issues but structure the political space like other positional issues.…”