You got that quite backwards. The Swiss government does usually not put things to a vote. Like any other government the parliament legislates and the executive

You got that quite backwards. The Swiss government does usually not put things to a vote. Like any other government the parliament legislates and the executive proposes laws and executes. If parliament enacts a law that parts of the population doesn't like they can call for a referendum. If they gather 50k signatures within a specific timeframe then there will be a popular vote about th law. The other way issues can come to a vote is by an initiative. This is usually how the "crazy" issues come to a vote. Note, however, that most issues are not crazy at all. The crazy ones are the ones that you hear about in the international press. An initiative on federal level requires 100k valid signatures.