OBELIS Swiss Political Elites

There are two samples of Switzerland's political elite positions on SWISSUbase: 1/ Swiss Federal political elite : This sample of federal political elites includes members of the Federal Council, the Federal Parliament, National Council and Council of States to 9 dates (1890, 1910, 1937, 1957, 1980, 2000, 2010, 2015 and 2020). This sample includes 2190 positions of political elites at federal level for these 9 dates (n=2190). 2/ Swiss cantonal and main cities governmental elites : This sample includes members of the Cantonal executives and members of the governments of the four largest Swiss cities (Zurich, Bern, Geneva, and Lausanne) which are the largest in terms of population and budget to 9 dates (1890, 1910, 1937, 1957, 1980, 2000, 2010, 2015 and 2020).

The number of members of cantonal executives varies between 5 and 10, and sometimes there have been changes during the year. In some cases, two people were appointed in succession during the year. This explains the higher number in some years.

Many individuals are present on several dates, particularly in the recent period. This sample includes 1751 positions of political elites at cantonal or main cities level for these 9 dates (n=1751).