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Direct democracy in California is thus an aberration. It has no safeguards against Madison’s tyranny of the majority. It recognises no saucer that might cool the passions of the people. Above all, it is not a system intended to contain minority factions. Instead, it encourages special interests to wage war by ballot measure until one lobby prevails and imposes its will on all. Madison and Hamilton would have been horrified.
But in 1911 none of this was yet clear. The system had the potential to be coercive, but its actual effect would depend on context and usage. Indeed, the number of ballot measures, once the novelty wore off, declined and stayed low as the Southern Pacific’s power faded naturally. For decades, immigrants populated the state, and most problems seemed to take care of themselves. But all this changed abruptly in 1978, with an unprecedented initiative that shapes the state to this day: Proposition 13.

A. 어휘
aberration 탈선, 正道(정도) 離脫(이탈). factions 도당, 당파.
interests 이익집단. wage 전쟁을 수행하다.
measure 수단, 조치. prevails 이기다, 압도하다.
impose 강요하다. would have been horrified 공포에 사로잡혔을 것이다.
potential 잠재력. coercive 강압적인, 威壓(위압)적인.
context 脈絡(맥락), 상황, 전후관계. novelty 색다른 것, 신기함.
wore off 줄어들다, 점차로 사라지다. fade 시들다.
immigrants 이민. abruptly 갑자기. unprecedented 先例(선례)가 없는.
Proposition 국민제안.