IT IS NOT often that voters get a chance to cut politicians down to size. But on September 20th-21st, Italy's did-and they seized the opportunity with both hands. By a whopping majority of 70% to 30%, they opted in a referendum to slash the number of lawmakers by more than a third. The lower house (the Chamber of Deputies) will have 400 members, down from 630, while the upper one will have 200 elected senators rather than 315. The reform also capped at five the number of presidentially nominated senators-for-life. The new law will take effect after the next general election, which does not have to be until 2023 though it may come earlier. It will not affect the generous salaries and perks of Italy's parliamentarians. Nor does it tackle a more fundamental problem: that the two houses have identical functions. Still, it brings the ratio of voters to lawmakers to around the same level as in Germany and represents a triumph for anti-politics, the distrust of a governing elite whose members are seen by many Italians as pampered, corruptible and virtually impossible to dislodge. Anti-politics was an important reason for the rise of the maverick Five Star Movement (M5S), which sponsored the reform.
展开▼
机译：选民不经常有机会将政治家削减到规模。但是在9月20日 - 21日，意大利的做了 - 他们用双手抓住了机会。他们的往往大多数为70％到30％，他们选择了一项公民投票，以削减立法者的数量超过三分之一。 The lower house (the Chamber of Deputies) will have 400 members, down from 630, while the upper one will have 200 elected senators rather than 315. The reform also capped at five the number of presidentially nominated senators-for-life.新法律将在下一个大选后生效，这在2023年之前不必迄今为止。它不会影响意大利议员的慷慨工资和津贴。它也不解决更为根本的问题：这两个房屋具有相同的功能。尽管如此，选民与德国相同水平的选民比例，代表了一个胜利的反政治，这是一个人的议员被许多意大利人所看到的管理精英的不信任，这是呵护，腐败，几乎不可能脱落。反政治是Maverick五星运动（M5S）崛起的一个重要原因，这提出了改革。
展开▼
