LOCAL POLITICAL MOVEMENTS: A WAY FORWARD OR A WAY BACKWARD? A SWISS REGIONAL EXAMPLE.

 Samuele Patelli, University of Fribourg, Switzerland

Usually, a bottom-up process from the population to the “elite” tends to create local political movements. The reason of this kind of movements is to come out from marginality or a disadvantaged condition. However, the results do not always correspond to the expectations. It is possible that the pretensions of political regional movements provoke a conflict with adjacent territories, thereby increasing the isolation and marginality. Local political movements may have an economic, social and territorial impact, but it depends on the kind of political movement and its orientations. My regional Swiss example shows that the emergence of a specific local political party produces negatives representations in the population of the adjacent territories. Although not present on the national scale, this party is very important and well considered at the regional level. This divergence can be a problem and can damage the image of the region where such a movement exists. For this reason, a local political movement can be a negative phenomenon. Nevertheless, it is sure that there are other kinds of movements (political or not) that have a positive impact and can be a “way forward”. This depends on its kind, on his proposal and its ideology. It is impossible to generalize the impact of such movements without an accurate analysis.