Study: Security before freedom
Before the start of the war in Ukraine, the Swiss electorate weighted security higher than freedom, felt safe and had great trust in institutions. This is shown by the results of this year's "Security" study.
According to the latest "Security" study by the Military Academy (MILAK) and the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich, the proportion of those who value freedom more highly than security has fallen sharply (9 percentage points) compared with 2018. Compared to 2008, respondents are less strongly of the opinion that the state must take on more and more tasks. The view that "in Switzerland we will soon have reached the point where the state interferes everywhere, regulates everything and individual freedom is lost" has also fallen compared with 2007.
Trust in selected institutions remains as high as ever. The first places (on a scale of ten) are still occupied by the police (7.9, ±0.0), science (7.8, ±0.0), the courts (7.6, ±0.0) and the Federal Council (7.3, ±0.0). Recently, the business community (7.0, +0.1) has taken fifth place ahead of parliament (6.8, -0.1), followed by the armed forces (6.7, -0.1). The political parties (5.5, -0.1) and the media (5.4, -0.1) are the least trusted by the electorate.
Positive attitude towards the armyVoting population
At 94 percent, the general perception of security among the Swiss electorate remained high at the beginning of 2022, i.e. even before the start of the Ukraine war. Optimism about the future with regard to Switzerland has increased compared with 2021 (86 percent, up three percentage points). The pessimistic assessment regarding the future development of the global political situation remained statistically unchanged (68 percent, three percentage points).
A majority of the population supports the necessity of the armed forces and the militia system. In January 2022, the electorate is more in favor of a "very well trained" (88 percent, +15 percentage points) and "fully equipped" (70 percent, +12 percentage points) army. In addition, the Swiss are apparently more satisfied with the performance of the armed forces.
A total of 1217 voters from German-speaking Switzerland, French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino were interviewed by telephone.
View the entire Security 2022 study (PDF)
Source: Federal Government (Defense Group)
