ABSTRACT
International academic research on the extreme right has until very recently shown little interest in the Swiss case and few ‘comparative’ books and articles have taken Swiss examples into consideration. The main reason for this oversight is that most of the literature mischaracterizes the Swiss case and claims that Switzerland represents a case of failure for radical right-wing populism. The literature has thus far failed to take account of the existence of key causal factors in Switzerland that have favoured the emergence and continuity of such parties. As a consequence, many scholars embrace the notion of ‘Swiss exceptionalism’.
