Welfare Chauvinism among Voters and Political Parties: Exploring Preferences for Restricting <scp>EU</scp> Migrants' Access to Social Assistance in Switzerland

Abstract The access of EU migrants to social assistance is highly politicised in Switzerland. However, we know little about parties' and voters' positions on this issue across the ideological spectrum. Using quantitative methods, this article examines whether there is congruence between voters' preferences on EU migrants' access to social assistance and those of political parties. It also examines whether citizens' voting choices are influenced by the degree of welfare chauvinism of political parties. The data suggest that voters' preferences do not always coincide with those of the parties, and that voters are more restrictive than parties. Our analyses also show that only voters of the Swiss People's Party and, to a lesser extent, of the Liberal Party choose their party because of its welfare chauvinist position. Therefore, the politicisation of this issue by the centrist and the left parties does not pay off electorally.