Do We Have To Take This Much Initiative?
Contemplating California’s Century of Direct Democracy
For a century, Californians have been making and unmaking laws at the ballot box thanks to direct democracy, which was instituted with the promise of leveling the state’s playing field and reducing large corporate influences. But has this system of initiative, referendum, and recall lived up to its promise–or does it need saving? “Name me an initiative that’s passed since the beginning where the voters regretted passing it,” Center for Governmental Studies President Robert Stern challenged the audience at the Downtown Independent, at a panel co-sponsored by the League of …
