Problems in Democracy

Who wants to go to school six days a week? When the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation dreamed up a referendum on the question for teenagers, Sweden's school officials supported it as "a practical lesson in democracy." A vote in favor of lopping a day off the nation's traditional six-day school week seemed a foregone conclusion. To no one's surprise, the five-day forces among the kids took the spotlight with a motto delectable as smorgasbord: "Saturdays off mean less work."

What everybody forgot was the helpfulness of adult admen, who did their bit for both sides, livened up the campaign by plastering Sweden with ads slickly arguing that a shorter week would mean "more homework and shorter holidays." Result: some 328,000 student voters (90% of the "electorate") voted for a six-day week by nearly three to one. This week Swedish officials are pondering their own problem in democracy: how to go ahead and introduce the five-day week without disillusioning the kids.

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