Switzerland has 7.2 million citizens and four official languages. Protestants and Catholics are evenly divided. In spite of this diversity, Switzerland runs like a Swiss watch. The Swiss Confederation, founded in 1291, is made up of 26 independent cantons that are responsible for, and answerable to, their citizens on nearly all- political and economic matters. Each cantonal legislature sets its own policy on taxes, education, welfare, health, and language.
Swiss citizens vote by direct referendum on all important matters at least four times annually.
Any question may be put to voters provided a minimum number of signatures is received. Just last week, for example, Swiss voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to legalize drugs. The Swiss federal government in Bern is a bare-bones operation that oversees only defense, foreign relations, post and telecommunications, the central bank, and the nation's superb railroads. Everything that matters in Switzerland is transacted at the cantonal level, where government is responsive and attuned to local needs. Unlike Canada, Switzerland has no massive federal bureaucracy swallowing the nations wealth, no redundant levels of government, and limited regulation.