Swiss Democracy

'The real value of the book lies in its critical dissection of features of Swiss democracy that are frequently praised in theory but rarely assessed in practice. Linder shows that behind its apparent populist democracy lurks the power of interest groups. So he makes a contribution to thought about democracy which could have significant lessons for countries seeking to be democratic' - G.W. Jones, Professor of Government, London School of Economics, University of London;'Given the furore about a referendum on Maastricht, Wolf Linder's book is a very timely one. He shows that referenda can have political affects way beyond those imagined by Bill Cash and Margaret Thatcher. So while Switzerland is not a model it encapsulates an alternative view of democracy about which we would do well to think' - Clive C.Church, Professor of European Studies, University of Kent at Canterbury;The features of Swiss democracy are frequently praised in theory but rarely assessed in practice. In this book Wolf Linder explains the way government and politics work in Switzerland. Combining the essence of many empirical studies with own observations, and giving illustrative examples, the author thoroughly an