YOU MAY BE able to fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time. But this time, the voters of Baltimore weren't fooled by scare tactics used to try to defeat Question P - the successful bid to shrink the City Council and create single-member districts.

Good for them. Their reward should be a more responsive, more diverse council on which candidates from both political parties and with a broader range of views have an opportunity to serve.

Critics of the proposal, eager to protect the status quo, made absurd predictions of the dire consequences that would result if it passed. They claimed that districts could be drawn so that a city with a black majority would elect an all-white council.

Hogwash. Not even those talented gerrymanders in Annapolis could accomplish a feat like that.

What might happen, though, is that a Republican or two might get elected. Maybe even a candidate who doesn't have the backing of the local Democratic organization. Most important, council members who serve as the lone representatives of their districts will find the buck stops at their desks when their constituents need help. That responsibility will also give each of them new power that Baltimore mayors will have to respect.

Backers of this blow for greater democracy have been working toward it for a long time. Their efforts were strongly endorsed yesterday. The result could be a dramatic improvement in city government.