Congruence of Political Elites and Citizens Regarding Different Aspects of the Swiss-EU Relations and Determinants of Possible Gaps

Ideological congruence between political elites and citizens is central to normative theories of representation. In addition, it relates to the level of how satisfied citizens are with their respective political system. This paper aims at investigating the congruence between citizens’ and candidates’ stances on European integration politics which is arguably one of the most conflictive contemporary policy domains. How congruent are political elites and their respective party electorate when it comes to European integration politics and what are the determinants of congruence gaps between them? In the time of the elaboration of an Institutional Framework Agreement between the European Union and Switzerland, the small Central European non-EU member state serves as an interesting example of how policy preferences of the political elites and the citizens differ from each other. This paper will compare citizens’ and candidates’ placements along different politically relevant aspects of the Swiss-EU relationship. The envisaged congruence analyses will allow for a direct comparison and identification of ideological gaps between candidates and their voters as well as between political elite organisations and the public at large. To what extent do political elites and citizens agree on different aspects of the Swiss-EU relations? For what aspects of the Swiss-EU relationship are the differences between elites and citizens bigger and smaller? Do potential gaps vary across the different political parties’ electorates, and if so, for what aspects of the Swiss-EU relations is this the case? The paper relies on survey data of the recently conducted survey in the scope of the Swiss Election Study 2019. The congruence analyses will draw on the Selects Panel Survey and the Candidate Survey which is part of the international CCS framework. Both surveys contain a set of questions regarding the European politics that are asked in the exact same way. Direct comparisons between the Candidate Survey and the Panel Survey will further reveal if, for instance, successful candidates diverge from unsuccessful candidates regarding their congruence with citizens’ stances on different aspects of the Swiss-EU relations. On the level of citizens, differences between non-voters (who make up for a majority of Swiss citizens) and voters might be identified regarding their congruence with the political elite’s attitudes and preferences.