Swiss voters approved in February 2014 a popular initiative to curb immigration from the European Union. Since the EU is not willing to negotiate on the principle of free movement, a unilateral implementation of the initiative threatens the economic relations between Switzerland and the EU. The research project investigates how citizens and political elites reacted to the political dilemma between the popular will to reduce immigration and the external constraints of the Bilateral Treaties that secure Switzerland's access to the Internal Market of the EU. How did political elites manoeuvre between responsive government and responsible government? How did Swiss citizens learn that they cannot have the cake and eat it too?
