The Swiss Upper House: 'Chambre de Réflexion' or Conservative Renegades?

• Autores: Sarah Bütikofer, Simon Hug
• Localización: The Journal of legislative studies, ISSN 1357-2334, Vol. 16, Nº. 2, 2010, págs. 176-194
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Theoretical analyses suggest that bicameral systems have policy consequences if the preferences of the two chambers differ. This paper offers an analysis of the ideological positions of the MPs in the two chambers of the Swiss parliament. Contrary to conventional wisdom the analyses relying on MP surveys and roll call analyses suggest that the MPs of the same party hardly differ with respect to their ideological positions. While the MP survey suggests that the Swiss upper house is more conservative given the underrepresentation of leftist parties in the latter chamber, similar differences fail to appear in the roll call analyses in a systematic way. Hence, the Swiss upper house is hardly a conservative bastion.