Direct Democratic Choice sets out to understand how the citizens actually decide in directdemocratic votes. Author Hanspeter Kriesi has analyzed nearly twenty years of postelection surveys in Switzerland 19811999 which he has contextualized according to the various political issues and the relevant arguments provided by the political elites. This books core argument is that the citizens who participate in directdemocratic votes make competent choices. Kriesi provides strong support for an optimistic view of directdemocratic decisionmaking but also indicates that this process wherever it occurs can be improved by proper institutional design and by appropriate strategies enacted by the political elite.