Due to the challenges that modern representative democracy is facing, citizens and politicians of various countries are looking for new solutions and ways to ensure the optimal functioning of their political and decision making system. In this context, Switzerland appears to be a country relatively immune to the current crisis. Why is that? As a direct democracy where the rule of the people remains the fundamental principle, it provides its citizens with instruments: referendum, popular initiative, popular veto, which allow them to resolve any problems that arise both on the national and local level. The essential characteristic of the Swiss system, which is also its main strength, is that unlike other European democracies it grants its citizens full power over their homeland, making them the actual sovereign. The author discusses various aspects of the Swiss model of democracy and suggests that it offers the best solutions for the optimal development of any country. It is the first work on this subject, it is certainly worth reading!

Miroslaw Matyja is a political scientist, economist and historian. He is an alumnus of Krakow University of Economics and University of Basel. He received PhD in economics in 1998 from University of Fribourg, Switzerland, in humanities in 2012 from the Polish University Abroad PUNO in London, and in social sciences in 2016 from Maria Curie Sklodowska University in Lublin. Miroslaw Matyja is a professor at the Polish University Abroad in London and chairs its Institute of Political Culture and Democracy Research. He has authored or co authored 14 monographs and over 200 scientific and popular articles in Polish, German, and English. He is the author of Szwajcarska demokracja szansa dla Polski, 2018 and Polska semidemokracja. Dylematy oddolnej demokracji w III RP , 2019. He lives in Switzerland with his wife and two twin sons.