INTRODUCTION

Switzerland is not only the oldest democratic nation-state but also the oldest federal polity in Europe. Given deep-rooted societal cleavages of language, ethnicity, and religion and a strong divide between rural areas and urban agglomerations, the formation of a multicultural nation-state in 1848 was a truly revolutionary venture. Leading representatives of the Swiss labor movement pinned their hopes on the democratic institutions to overcome the widespread pauperization of the working class that had emerged in the wake of the early industrialization of the northeastern parts of the country. But the dreams of ameliorating the living standard of workers by means of social policy were dashed. The formation of a national welfare state faced many obstacles and took longer than in most continental countries. This is particularly true for social security: neither a public pension scheme nor unemployment insurance was adopted prior to 1945.

Why did this hope prove to be an illusion? This chapter examines the driving and braking forces that have shaped Swiss social policy from 1848 to 1945. Special attention is paid to the impact of religion on early welfare state formation. Given the cultural modernization and the decline in religiosity in the postwar period, the impact of religion on social policy should be most pronounced during the formative period of the welfare state. Nevertheless, the fierce state–church conflict of the 19th centuryand the resulting establishment of parties of religious defense had much more long-lasting consequences for welfare state building in Switzerland.