How we work

The po­lit­i­cal process starts with a de­mand: a pe­ti­tion, a mo­tion in par­lia­ment, or a pop­u­lar ini­tia­tive. Often the orig­i­nal im­pe­tus comes from abroad. Chal­lenges that re­late to the eco­nomic pol­icy frame­work be­come a topic for economiesu­isse. Our spe­cial­ists an­a­lyze the sit­u­a­tion, mine the data, ex­change views with ex­perts and ad­min­is­tra­tion spe­cial­ists.

Once a pro­posal en­ters the con­sul­ta­tion process, our mem­bers be­come even more in­volved. Not all is­sues af­fect every­one in the same way and mem­bers dis­agree. Con­tro­ver­sial mat­ters are de­bated openly in the lead­er­ship com­mit­tees until a con­sen­sus is achieved; the con­sol­i­dated opin­ion of Swiss busi­ness will carry more weight as a re­sult. Next comes the labor of per­sua­sion: first in par­lia­men­tary com­mis­sions, then in the full par­lia­ment and fi­nally in the court of pub­lic opin­ion.

Even be­fore the final vote in par­lia­ment, in­ter­nal cam­paign prepa­ra­tions begin. Strate­gies are de­vised, ar­gu­ments pre­pared, and al­liances forged. The ac­tual vot­ing cam­paign achieves vis­i­bil­ity about eight weeks be­fore the vote: on­line, on bill­boards, in panel dis­cus­sions, in ads, fly­ers, mail­ings, short films, street cor­ner ac­tiv­i­ties, and many more ways. Now the mes­sages get more pointed: they no longer speak of com­pro­mise but only of yes or no. On vot­ing Sun­days frus­tra­tion and ela­tion are often very close to­gether. Ei­ther way, now is the time to an­a­lyze the re­sults and draw con­clu­sions. Be­cause 'after the vote' is also 'be­fore the vote'.