How poster design has served as an essential tool for Swiss political campaigns. The Swiss population is called upon to participate actively in political decision-making processes through regular campaigns. These campaigns are often concerned with issues that stir up heated emotions and lead to ideological battles. Campaign posters, which have influenced opinion-making since the beginning of the 20th century, bear testimony to direct democracy. This special form of political propaganda
prominently associated with Switzerland
is a sensitive indicator of socio-political moods and reflects both national mentalities and global tendencies. Ja! Nein! Yes! No! Swiss Posters for Democracy reveals the visual argumentation strategies and rhetorical approaches that have shaped the Swiss campaign poster from 1918 to the present. Cliched exaggerations, undifferentiated simplifications, a repertoire of drastic motifs and abridged slogans correspond to the laws of the medium, which is oriented towards a manipulative appeal to the masses. Appeals to a sense of unity focus primarily on emotionalisation rather than rational enlightenment. Subtly condensed messages or graphically innovative language are hardly to be found in campaign posters. And yet many renowned designers created works that have inscribed themselves in the collective visual memory of the Swiss population and have become icons of Swiss poster design. AUTHORS: Bettina Richter is an art historian, lecturer and author. Since 2006 she is curator of the Poster Collection of the Museum fur Gestaltung Zurich. Jakob Tanner is Professor Emeritus of Modern History at the University of Zurich and author of several books on the history of Switzerland in a European context. SELLING POINTS: . Switzerland’s direct democracy promotes a rich culture of political posters . A cross-section of the campaign posters of a century reveals visual argumentation strategies and striking rhetoric 150 illustrations
