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This article aims to question how the process of political professionalization in multi-level states could change political careers patterns. We show that the changing opportunity structure produce...

With its collegial coalition government that includes all major parties and that cannot be dismissed by the legislature, Switzerland has little tradition of parliamentary opposition. Our analyses of bills and roll call votes between 1999 and 2011 reveal two evolutions. First, there is a progressive emancipation of the parliament as a whole with a substantial increase in the number of bills initiated from within parliament. Second, the rise and the radicalisation of the populist right (SVP) has led to the emergence of a second pole of opposition in Swiss politics, adding to the one formed by parties from the left.