The Free Democratic Party (, FDP; , PLD), also called Radical Democratic Party (, PRD; , PLR) was a liberal political party in Switzerland. Formerly one of the major parties in Switzerland, on 1 January 2009 it merged with the Liberal Party of Switzerland to form FDP. The Liberals.

The FDP was formed in 1894 from the Radicals, who had dominated Swiss politics since the 1830s, standing in opposition to the Catholic conservatives, and who from the creation of the federal state in 1848 until 1891 formed the federal government.

The FDP remained dominant until the introduction of proportional representation in 1919. From 1945 to 1987, it alternated with the Social Democratic Party to be the largest party. In 1959, the party took two seats in the magic formula. The party declined in the 1990s and 2000s (decade), as it was put under pressure by the Swiss People's Party. In response, the party formed closer relations with the smaller Liberal Party, leading to their formal merger in 2009.

History The elements 'liberal', 'radical' and freisinnig (an obsolete German word for 'liberal', or literally "free thinking") in the party's name originate from the conflicts during the period of Swiss Restoration between the Catholic-conservative cantons and the liberal cantons. This conflict led to the foundation of the Swiss federal state in 1848 after the victory of the predominantly Protestant and liberal cantons over the conservative and Catholic ones in the Sonderbund war.

From 1848 until 1891, the Federal Council was composed entirely of Radicals. The radical movement of the restoration was anti-clerical, and stood in opposition to the Catholic Conservative Party, the ancestor of the modern Christian Democratic People's Party. They were otherwise heterogeneous, including and classical liberal 'Liberals', federalist 'Radicals', and social liberal 'Democrats': placing the radical movement on the 'left' of the political spectrum. It was not until the rise of the Social Democratic Party in the early 20th century that the FDP found itself on the centre-right.

The FDP was the dominant party until the 1919 election, when the introduction of proportional representation led to a leap in the representation of the Social Democrats. In 1959, the Free Democrats joined the other major parties in agreeing the 'magic formula' to divide up the seats of the Federal Council, with the FDP permanently receiving two of the seven seats.

After the 2003 elections, lawmakers of FDP and Liberal Party formed a common parliamentary group in the Federal Assembly. In June 2005, they strengthened their cooperation by founding the Radical and Liberal Union. They merged on 1 January 2009 to form FDP. The Liberals.

Election results In 2003, it held 36 mandates (out of 200) in the National Council (lower chamber of the Swiss parliament); 14 (out of 46) in the Council of States, the upper chamber, and two out of seven mandates in the Swiss Federal Council (executive body). By 2005, it held 27.2% of the seats in the Swiss Cantonal governments and 19.7% in the Swiss Cantonal parliaments (index "BADAC", weighted with the population and number of seats). At the last legislative elections, 22 October 2007, the party won 15.6% of the popular vote and 31 out of 200 seats.

National Council Election Votes % Seats +/– Rank 1896 181,028 47.8 (#1) 12 1st 1899 183,216 49.7 (#1) 2 1st 1902 205,235 50.4 (#1) 16 1st 1905 202,605 49.2 (#1) 4 1st 1908 202,732 50.9 (#1) 1 1st 1911 198,300 49.5 (#1) 10 1st 1914 191,054 56.1 (#1) 3 1st 1917 210,323 40.8 (#1) 9 1st 1919 215,566 28.8 (#1) 43 1st 1922 208,144 28.3 (#1) 1st 1925 206,485 27.8 (#1) 1st 1928 220,135 27.4 (#2) 2 1st 1931 232,562 26.9 (#2) 6 1st 1935 216,664 23.7 (#2) 4 2nd 1939 128,163 20.7 (#2) 1 1st 1943 197,746 22.5 (#2) 2 2nd 1947 220,486 23.0 (#2) 5 1st 1951 230,687 24.0 (#2) 1 1st 1955 227,370 23.3 (#2) 1 2nd 1959 232,557 23.7 (#2) 1 1st 1963 230,200 23.9 (#2) 2nd 1967 230,095 23.2 (#2) 2 2nd 1971 432,259 21.7 (#2) 1st 1975 428,919 22.2 (#2) 2 2nd 1979 440,099 24.0 (#2) 4 1st 1983 457,283 23.3 (#1) 3 1st 1987 457,283 22.9 (#1) 3 1st 1991 429,072 21.0 (#1) 7 1st 1995 384,515 20.2 (#2) 1 2nd 1999 388,780 19.9 (#3) 2 3rd 2003 364,493 17.3 (#3) 7 3rd 2007 364,736 15.8 (#3) 5 3rd

List of party Presidents Name Canton Years 1st Basel-Stadt 1894–1896 2nd Basel-Stadt 1896–1897 3rd Zurich 1897–1898 4th Bern 1898–1903 5th Basel-Stadt 1904–1906 6th Zurich 1907–1910 7th Vaud 1911–1912 8th Vaud 1912–1913 9th Bern 1914–1918 10th Solothurn 1919–1923 11th Zurich 1923–1929 12th Bern 1929–1934 13th Neuchâtel 1934–1940 14th Luzern 1940–1948 15th Ticino 1948–1954 16th Basel-Stadt 1954–1960 17th Ticino 1960–1964 18th Fribourg 1964–1968 19th Geneva 1968–1974 20th Zurich 1974–1977 21st Neuchâtel 1978–1984 22nd Aargau 1984–1989 23rd Uri 1989–2001 24th Schaffhausen 2001–2002 25th Vaud 2002–2004 26th Zug 2004 27th Appenzell Innerrhoden 2004–2005 28th Ticino 2005–2009

See also Liberalism and radicalism in Switzerland

Footnotes

External links fdp.ch in German prd.ch in French plrt.ch in Italian Young Liberals Switzerland official site of the youth branch, called jungfreisinnige schweiz (in German/French)

ca:Partit Radical Democràtic de Suïssa eo:Radikal-Demokrata Partio de Svislando la:Factio Liberalis Democratica (Helvetia) pl:Radykalno-Demokratyczna Partia Szwajcarii