Being small definitely helps make this possible. That's not all it is though. An interesting question is why this is possible in Switzerland when in other count

Being small definitely helps make this possible. That's not all it is though. An interesting question is why this is possible in Switzerland when in other countries (not even very far away) there are threats of abuse against politicians. There's been a spike of threats in the UK over the last year or so. Yesterday the PM of the UK even had to say the obvious that it is in unacceptable. I'm betting it's linked to poverty and desperation, if everyone is decently well off then no one's angry enough to threaten violence?