===Modern history===
In 1971, the BGB merged with two cantonal Democratic Parties, and the same year the name was changed to the Swiss People's Party (SVP).<ref name="pp.128">Skenderovic, pp. 128.</ref> The two Democratic Parties were politically centrist and socially liberal, so the merger shifted the SVP was founded in 1971as a whole towards the political center, even though there were internal ideological debates. It became more conservative in <ref>Skenderovic, pp. 128, 129.</ref> The merger was intended to increase the 1980s and 1990sSVP's voting base, but it did not increase its electoral performance, remaining around 11 percent.<ref name="pp.128"/>
===Growth===