Talk:Free Democratic Party of Switzerland

Just about the translation:
Freisinnig-Demokratische Partei clearly means in English Freethinking Democratic Party. The translation to Free is not accurate, Free in German is Frei (Freie). If one translates the French name it would be Radical Democratic Party. If one translates the Italian name it would be Radical Liberal Party. --Gangulf 09:54, 19 Mar 2004 (UTC)


 * The German name may have ment that, but it's not a version used in English by Swiss institutions, , , the Media , or other organisations . Not sure, which one the party prefers though. -- User:Docu

Moved to German name
Since there can be discussion about the translation of the party name, I moved the page to the German version of the party name, since that is the most spoken language in Switzerland. Gangulf 16:15, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)


 * The party doesn't seem to choose between the language versions see article 3. It seems odd that Wikipedia would do that for this one, when party names of monolingual countries are generally translated. -- User:Docu


 * We still do no agree. Yes the party uses all three names, though the Italian version is only used in Ticino. German is the largest language in Switzerland. I could live with one of the following titles for the article: Freisinnig-Demokratische Partei, Radical Democratic Party (that is the translation used in the famous book Political Parties of the World), Freethinking Democratic Party or the combination Freisinnig-Demokratische Partei/Parti Radical Démocratique. Free Democratic Party is simple not a good translation and in all my contacts with FDP Switzerland they never used this translation.
 * I have just send an email to the party to learn which translation they use. I suggest to follow their answer Gangulf 18:47, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)
 * Today I received an email from the FDP confirming that they want to be named Free Democratic Party of Switzerland in English. So I rest my case. Gangulf 19:23, 30 Jul 2004 (UTC)
 * I was going to suggest to use "Radical Democratic Party" as . It would be nice if FDP/PRD would bother having the translation there updated or at least, make use of theirs on their website. Anyways, the current solution has the advantage of being the initial one. -- User:Docu
 * it's pointless to literally translate "free-thinking", "liberal" or "radical" if these terms have different connotations in english (read Liberalism, Radical Party). I started a history section, briefly explaining why the party is called that. dab 17:16, 9 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * I can see, that in an earlier stage the party has expressed its wish to be translated as "Free Democratic Party of Switzerland", but the name of the article remains as "Free-thinking Democratic Party of Switzerland". So, if their own wish doesn't count, I'd like to support the translation "Radical Democratic Party" (from French) instead of "Free-thinking Democratic Party" (translated from the German name). Many sources, such as Swissinfo, use as an English translation "Radical Party" or "Radical Democratic Party". I think this would be a better solution, as "Free-thinking" in English refers more often to a religious than political position.--82.181.26.77 23:43, 6 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Liberal is not a synonym of left wing. See the discussion on the diverse relevant pages. --Gangulf 20:53, 9 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Both terms, Freisinnig and Radikal were used in 19th century switzerland to describe liberal politicians.

I dont get it
I dont get how with the rise of SP it came to the centre right, or even how its on the centre right. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Agtrheeeinsm (talk • contribs) 12:28, 4 December 2008 (UTC)


 * I don't get your objection. Most classical liberal parties are described as centre-right nowadays. Bastin 18:34, 4 December 2008 (UTC)
 * It probably was regarded as 'leftist' historically, as being to the left of conservatives at the time. --Miacek (talk) 19:53, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Move to separate article
The merger of the Free Democratic Party and the Liberal Party created a completely new party, and was not just a continuation of the old Free Democrats/Radicals. This is borne out by the new name and the fact that Liberal Parties still exist in Geneva, Vaud, and part of Valais.

French, Dutch, and Spanish Wikipedias have separate articles for the new party and old party, and I believe that English should, too. Opinions, please. Bastin 00:28, 18 March 2010 (UTC)

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