Why do parties participate in referendum campaigns? Evidence from Switzerland

Overview

This research investigates the strategic calculus underlying political party participation in referendum campaigns, moving beyond existing literature that focuses on party-initiated referendums to examine broader engagement patterns. The study develops an analytical framework identifying five potential strategic drivers of campaign participation and tests these factors against empirical data from recent Swiss referendum contests. The research employs social media and newspaper advertisements as observable indicators of party campaign involvement, examining 33 referendums to determine which conditions predict active party participation in referendum campaigns.

Methods and approach

The study constructs a theoretical framework grounded in referendum instrumentalization literature and related strategic party behavior research. Five hypothesized strategic factors are identified as potential explanations for party campaign participation. The framework is operationalized through analysis of 33 recent Swiss referendums using social media and newspaper advertisements as proxy measures for campaign participation. Binomial logistic regression analysis is employed to assess the statistical relationship between the proposed strategic factors and the observed likelihood of party participation in referendum campaigns.

Key Findings

Binomial logistic regression findings demonstrate that three factors significantly influence party participation in referendum campaigns. Public attention directed toward a referendum substantially increases the probability of party engagement. The salience of a referendum's issue to a specific party significantly predicts participation. A party's status as a campaign initiator shows a lesser but still statistically meaningful effect on participation likelihood. These results indicate that Swiss parties approach referendum campaigns primarily through policy-seeking and image-building strategic lenses rather than through alternative motivational frameworks.

Implications

The research extends existing instrumentalization theory to encompass non-initiating party behavior in referendum contexts. Previous scholarship concentrated on parties that launched referendums; this study demonstrates that parties not formally initiating campaigns still employ strategic calculus in determining participation. The prominence of public attention and issue salience as participation drivers suggests that referendum campaigns function as vehicles for parties to advance policy positions and enhance electoral positioning. The relatively weaker effect of initiator status indicates that campaign mobilization dynamics extend broadly across the party system rather than remaining concentrated among initiative sponsors.

Scope and limitations

This summary is based on the study abstract and available metadata. It does not include a full analysis of the complete paper, supplementary materials, or underlying datasets unless explicitly stated. Findings should be interpreted in the context of the original publication.