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Politicians may be getting keener on public support for new laws. But few want to allow voters to write them: that would be not so much democracy, they say, as ochlocracy—mob rule. Compact and cohesive electorates, such as in a Swiss canton, are unusually good places for such votes to work: voters are more likely to ponder the issues fully beforehand, and to deal maturely with the result afterwards.
So only a few countries give voters Swiss-style rights to take their own proposals to the ballot box. Of all the citizen-initiated nationwide votes recorded since the 1980s, 90% have taken place in Switzerland and six other states: Italy, Liechtenstein, Uruguay, Lithuania, Latvia and Hungary. The regional picture is different, though. Though the United States is one of the few democracies never to have held a national referendum, Californians were asked to vote on 14 local issues last year. Since 1996 Japan has had several hundred local polls.
Pan-European votes are in the offing too. From April 1st 2012 the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) will allow petitioners in the European Union to propose legislation to the European Commission. Among the several criteria is finding 1m signatories (0.2% of the EU population) from a quarter of member countries. “Manifestly abusive, frivolous or vexatious” initiatives are excluded. Carsten Berg of Democracy International (a pressure group that campaigned for the ECI) notes that a successful petition does not trigger a public vote or even a parliamentary debate. It only obliges the Eurocrats to respond. Petitions already under way include a proposal to halt the introduction of genetically modified crops, and one that would bar Turkey from the EU for ever. Another wants shops to close on Sundays.

A. 어휘
keen 갈망하는, 예민한, 銳利(예리)한. ochlocracy 暴民(폭민)정치, 愚民(우민)정치.
mob 暴徒(폭도). Compact 밀집한, 빽빽하게 찬.
cohesive 응집력이 있는, 밀착하는. electorates 선거구민, 유권자.
canton 스위스의 州(주). ponder 熟考(숙고)하다. beforehand 미리, 사전에.
maturely 신중하게, 성숙하게. initiate 창시하다, 개시하다.
nationwide 거국적인, 전국적인. regional picture 지역적 상황.
democracies 민주국가. Pan-European 全(전) 유럽의.
offing 앞바다. in the offing 가까운 장래에, 앞바다에, 가까운 거리에.
petitioners 청원자. legislation 입법, 법률제정. Commission 위원회.
criteria 基準(기준). signatories 서명. Manifestly 분명히, 명백히.
abusive 악용하는, 罵倒(매도)하는. frivolous 경솔한, 하찮은.
vexatious 소송남용의, 성가신, 약 오르는, 소란한.
exclude 排除(배제)하다. debate 논쟁. oblige ...하게 하다.
halt 정지시키다. modified 변형된. bar 금지하다. for ever 영원히.