Interestingly, the strong elements of direct democracy in Swiss politics have not weakened representative democracy or parliament. On the contrary: when established as a modern and devolved republic back in 1848, Switzerland was - as Britain is still today - a purely indirect democracy with a one-party government. It took many years, and many democratic movements, to get a more fine-tuned division of power, which now offers all forces and groups in the country a fair opportunity to take an active part in setting the political agenda, and in determining the final decision. And this is not simply oppositional: while most popular initiatives proposed by minority groups fail at the ballot box, most governmental proposals get support. Government in Switzerland is not delivering for people, but with them.