Sustainability and resource consumption: Comparing the positions of politicians and voters

The political parties’ positions on issues such as climate change, sustainability and resource consumption are widely known. However, the positions of their voters on these issues are far less well known. Initial results from a research project now show remarkable differences between the positions of the parties and their respective voter groups.

The “Sufficiency 23” research project

As part of the “Sufficiency 23” research project, the Institute of Public Sector at BFH Business School investigated the level of political support for 43 specific measures in the areas of climate and sustainability. To this end, a broad-based population survey was conducted in December 2023, in which 4,118 eligible voters took part, allowing reliable statements to be made about the positions of voters – broken down according to their party preferences.

Four of the proposed measures surveyed in the project were taken verbatim from the questionnaire of the online voting aid “smartvote” (www.smartvote.ch) for the 2023 National Council elections. This was answered by almost 5,000 candidates from all parties, which corresponds to a response rate of 84% and thus also allows for extremely reliable positioning. Specifically, these are the following questions:

• Should incentives and target agreements be used exclusively to achieve climate targets, rather than bans and restrictions?
• Would you support the introduction of rising electricity prices for higher consumption (progressive electricity tariffs)?
• Would you support a ban on single-use plastics and non-recyclable plastics?
• Do you support government measures for more sustainable use of electronic devices (e.g. right to repair, extension of warranty period, guaranteed minimum time for software updates)?

Combining the two data sets allows the approval ratings of the parties (average ratings of their candidates) for the four questions/proposed measures to be compared directly with those of their respective voters (see figure).

Figure: Percentage point difference in approval between candidates for the National Council (NR) and the electorate (W) on four sufficiency questions

First of all, it is striking across all four questions that the differences between voters and political parties are often very pronounced. This is particularly evident in the first question, where the parties show differences of 19 to 50 percentage points from the positions of their voters. It also shows that voters (with the exception of the GLP) take clearly more moderate, less polarised positions in each case.

The most important findings are as follows:

• The voters of the three bourgeois parties consistently and, in some cases, very clearly position themselves as more environmentally friendly than “their” parties. This is particularly true of SVP voters.
• The question about measures for a more sustainable use of electronic devices clearly shows how much support for a measure increases when it not only imposes costs on citizens or consumers, but also offers a direct, tangible benefit (e.g. longer warranty periods or the right to repair).
• It is also surprising how clearly voters from all parties support the introduction of a ban on single-use plastics. Although SVP voters show the lowest level of support, even among them it is just over 60%.
• On the question of introducing progressive electricity tariffs, it is particularly noteworthy that the SP is breaking away from the “pro-environment” alliance with the Greens and the GLP and clearly rejecting the proposal. A look at the comments published by SP candidates on this issue on the “smartvote” website shows that this proposal is not considered socially acceptable, as electricity prices would rise for everyone regardless of their income, which would place a proportionally greater burden on people/families with lower incomes. It is interesting to note that SP voters see this conflict as less significant and generally place greater importance on environmental policy goals. In any case, they clearly support the proposed measures.

Finally, the question arises as to how well voters’ climate and environmental policy positions are represented in Swiss politics. The results are mixed. The SP, Greens and GLP are generally close to their voters on this issue, while conservative voters are much more vocal than their parties in calling for greater environmental and climate protection. Overall, the Swiss population is clearly more positive about climate protection and sustainability than politicians are. However, these findings should not be overrated. If there is intense public debate on an issue in which the parties are also explicitly involved (e.g. in the run-up to a possible referendum), the positions of voters can change significantly. This is a topic that we will discuss in more detail in a second article.