Kaspar Villiger illuminates the influence of institutions, political culture, and chance on human behavior, and describes some of the inherent misincentives of democracy. He advocates for a policy that is oriented towards the autonomous and self-responsible individual while also allowing sufficient freedom for the market economy. Politics requires a conceptual foundation that takes economic laws into account and enables voters to contextualize specific political measures. He illustrates this with two concrete examples. He demonstrates that the debt brake was part of a comprehensive financial policy concept and that federalism must be guided by clear political and economic principles. However, he also describes how referendums can steer politics in a different direction, leading to a fundamental revision of the concept.