Earlier this month, the bank Credit Suisse published it’s annual survey, which looks at the level of trust Swiss have in government (The Federal Council, Parliament and States Council), courts (Federal Tribunal), banks, police, NGOs, public administration, internet and television, among other things.
Switzerland’s Federal Tribunal is the most trusted institution – © Mihai-bogdan Lazar | Dreamstime
Overall 60% of Swiss trust the Federal Council, Switzerland’s executive branch of government, far higher than the OECD average of 42%.
Trust was not spread equally. The most trusted institution was the Federal Tribunal, the country’s highest court (66%). Next were banks (61%) and the Federal Council (60%). The States Council, National Council and police were all trusted by 56% of the population surveyed. NGOs and public administration (55%) were followed by the internet (54%) and television (53%).
Despite scoring well compared to the rest of the OECD, trust declined in many areas. Trust in the army and Swiss National Bank slipped 10%, something that might relate to the bank’s handling of the rise of the franc.
Television, radio and newspapers all lost the trust of between 5% and 6% of people, a drop that might relate to the issue of “fake news”.
The biggest gainers were the Federal Tribunal (+1%) and banks (+4%).
In addition, the survey found large differences in levels of attachment to the nation, canton, linguistic region and local commune. Being Swiss (56%) was more important than being from a particular linguistic region (55%), canton (41%) or commune (25%) – people were asked to rank their attachment to each of these.
Attachment to linguistic region and canton have stayed relatively stable over the years. Attachment to commune, or municipality, has seen the greatest shift. At its peak in 2011, 44% listed it as the most important. This time around only 13% did.
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