Value Change in Switzerland

This book offers a uniquely detailed study of how citizens of a small open economy are affected in their value orientations over a twenty year period. Its contributions offer new ideas on how value change and its consequences may be studied on the basis of the wealth of information provided by the World Values Survey.

Values form fundamental principles that help orient individuals in their daily life, and as such are rather stable across time. Changes in the political, economic, and social environment, as those experienced by Switzerland in the last two decades, may affect these value priorities through generational change and individual reorientations. The present book documents how values have changed over the last twenty years in Switzerland as it navigated in the rough waters of an increasingly globalized environment and a changing international political context. The contributions show how Swiss citizens position themselves in their social relations, including the large share of foreigners among the residents in the Alpine republic. In particular, the book highlights how religious values have changed in their meanings. Contributions to this volume also show the consequences of value change in the social and political sphere. Values influence the citizens'' views on European integration, their disposition to provide volunteer work, their electoral choices, etc. The volume thus offers a detailed view on how values have changed in Switzerland and how these changes affected the social and political sphere.