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California’s democracy is not at all like America’s, as conceived by founders such as James Madison. The federal constitution is based on checks and balances within and among three and only three branches of government—executive, legislative and judicial. That is because Madison feared that popular “passions” would undo the republic, that majorities might “tyrannise” minorities, and that “minority factions” (ie, special interests) would take over the system. America’s was therefore to be a representative, not a direct, democracy. “Pure democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention,” Madison wrote, “and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.”
This notion did not travel well to the vast emptiness of America’s frontier. The likes of August Schuckman were rugged individualists who trusted themselves more than any representative to run their affairs. So they instinctively embraced a direct and participatory form of democracy which they imported (with consequential alterations) from Switzerland, adding a fourth branch of government to the three existing ones.
For much of the 20th century the resulting governance structure did no harm because voter initiatives were used sparingly. But then, starting in 1978, the culture and system mutated. Jerry Brown was governor when Californians passed Proposition 13, ostensibly an anti-tax measure but in reality a fundamental constitutional change with vast, and mostly unforeseen, consequences. It led to hundreds of ballot measures as citizens increasingly legislated directly and in tense competition with their own representatives.

A. 어휘
conceive 着想(착상)하다, 構想(구상)하다, 생각하다, 임신하다.
founders 始祖(시조), 元祖(원조), 창업자. federal constitution 연방헌법.
checks and balances 견제와 균형. executive 행정부.
legislative 입법부. judicial 사법부. passions 激情(격정).
undo 망쳐 놓다. tyrannise 압제하다, 학대하다. factions 당파, 徒黨(도당).
representative, not a direct, democracy 직접민주주의가 아닌 代議(대의)민주주의.
spectacles 光景(광경), 불쾌한 광경, 奇觀(기관).
turbulence 動亂(동란), 혼란. contention 투쟁, 싸움, 논쟁.
emptiness 無人之境(무인지경). frontier 邊境(변경).
rugged 粗野(조야)한, 야만스러운, 교양 없는, 울퉁불퉁한.
representative 代議員(대의원), 국회의원, 대표자. instinctively 본능적으로.
embrace 채택하다, 받아들이다, 포옹하다. participatory democracy 참여민주주의.
consequential 결과로서 일어나는, 결과의. alterations 수정, 개조, 변경, 변화.
voter initiatives 유권자 發議(발의). sparingly 인색하게, 검약하게.
mutate 변화시키다, 돌연변이하다. Proposition 국민제안.
ostensibly 표면상으로는. fundamental 근본적인. measure 법안, 조치.
constitutional change 헌법적 변화. unforeseen 예견하지 못한, 뜻밖의.
consequences 결과. ballot 투표. legislate 입법하다.
representatives 대표자, 의원.