> Swiss referendums more often than not follow the opinion of the government. This is an initiative, a referendum is something different. > In cases where th

> Swiss referendums more often than not follow the opinion of the government. This is an initiative, a referendum is something different. > In cases where they don't, they seem to be quite problematical. Not always, just in the recent years there have been some problematic votes which were accepted due to (IMO) fear generated by certain parties. There have been, however, also problematic initiatives/referendums where the people followed the governments opinion. > At the very least it poses a serious risk for long term investors or entrepreneurs. Any harebrained idea that comes up in this process has a non-zero chance of being implemented just by the power of low participation or ambiguous opinions. IMO you're a bit oversimplifying here. There are various hurdles to take when you want to vote on a certain thing. Whether things are accepted or declined depends on various things and can change because of some little thing in a week. The serious risk blabla is always a thing which various parties bring up in various votes. It never has had a bit impact as of now. In any other country laws are usually made by lobbyists. We have this problem here as well, but at least the public opinion is a bit harder to change in votes..