Giving American Direct Democracy
by Direct Democracy

photo: 

Do small but wealthy interest groups influence referendums, ballot initiatives, and other forms of direct legislation at the expense of the broader public interest? Many observers argue that they do, often lamenting that direct legislation has, paradoxically, been captured by the very same wealthy interests whose power it was designed to curb. Elisabeth Gerber, however, challenges that argument. In this first systematic study of how money and interest group power actually affect direct legislation, she reveals that big spending does not necessarily mean big influence.

Gerber bases her findings on extensive surveys of the activities and motivations of interest groups and on close examination of campaign finance records from 168 direct legislation campaigns in eight states. Her research confirms what such wealthy interests as the insurance industry, trial lawyer associations, and tobacco companies have learned by defeats at the ballot box: if citizens do not like a proposed new law, even an expensive, high-profile campaign will not make them change their mind. She demonstrates, however, that these economic interest groups have considerable success in using direct legislation to block initiatives that others are proposing and to exert pressure on politicians. By contrast, citizen interest groups with broad-based support and significant organizational resources have proven to be extremely effective in using direct legislation to pass new laws. Clearly written and argued, this is a major theoretical and empirical contribution to our understanding of the role of citizens and organized interests in the American legislative process.

Gerber, E. R. (1999). The Populist Paradox. Princeton University Press. ISBN: 0691002665

photo: 

Since its appearance twenty years ago, Benjamin R. Barber's Strong Democracy has been one of the primary standards against which political science thinking and writing is measured. Defined as the participation of all of the people in at least some aspects of self-government at least some of the time, Strong Democracy offers liberal society a new way of thinking about and of practicing democracy. Contrary to the commonly held view that an excess of democracy can undo liberal institutions, Barber argues that an excess of liberalism has undermined our democratic institutions and brought about the set of crises we still find ourselves struggling against: cynicism about voting, alienation, privatization, and the growing paralysis of public institutions. In a new preface Barber looks at the past twenty years and restates his argument, which seems, sadly, more pressing than ever.

Barber, B. R. (2004). Strong democracy: Participatory politics for a new age. University of California Press.

photo: 

"What makes this book unique is that it shows how the actual developments around the world provide empirical evidence for these `theories'. This is the contribution that will make The Future of Teledemocracy one of the classics of teledemocracy studies. This is also a reason why the book is a valuable tool for those involved in designing and evaluating teledemocracy experiments." - Ari-Veikko Anttiroiko Professor Department of Local Government Studies University of Tampere, Finland

Becker, T., & Slaton, C. D. (2000). The Future of Teledemocracy. Praeger Paperback.

At its birth, the United States was not a democratic nation---far from it. The very word democracy had pejorative overtones, summoning up images of disorder, government by the unfit, even mob rule. In practice, moreover, relatively few of the new nation's inhabitants were able to participate in elections: among the exclude were most African Americans, Native Americans, women, men who had not attained their majority, and adult white males who did not own land. Only a small fraction of the population cast ballots in the elections that elevated George Washington and John Adams to the august office of the presidency.

Keyssar, A. (2001). The right to vote: The contested history of democracy in the United States. Basic Books.

photo: 

Ballot initiatives have reshaped the lives of California citizens for almost 100 years, yet the initiative process itself has become outmoded, inflexible, confusing, complex, difficult for citizens to use and excessively dominated by money, concludes a new report.

Center for Governmental Studies. (2008). Democracy by Initiative: Shaping California's Fourth Branch of Government, 2nd Edition. Center for Governmental Studies.

This book is available online.

Ober, D., & Hunn, D. (2001). Ordinary people doing the extraordinary: The story of Ed and Joyce Koupal and the initiative process. People's Lobby.

A preliminary version is available for download.

photo: 

[Free download] How democratic are our political systems? Around a century ago, many countries in Europe introduced universal voting rights. Since then, the opportunities for citizens to take part in the political decision-making process have for the most part never been extended any further. But society has definitely evolved considerably. This up-to-date book pleads for a major democratic step forward.

Representative political systems are at odds with the principle of popular sovereignty. A small group of party leaders makes the major decisions. Public debate about our future only flares up during elections, after which the citizens are compelled to stand on the sidelines again for another four years. Surveys show that a large proportion of the population has lost faith in political institutions. Can such a political system produce solutions for the major issues of these times?

Jos Verhulst and Arjen Nijeboer show how the introduction of direct democracy can return sovereignty to the people. They discuss experiences with binding citizens' initiative referendums at home and abroad, and chart a new - and often surprising - course towards a society of free and responsible citizens. They also examine the objections to citizen-initiated referendums.

Only one country in the world--Switzerland--is a direct democracy, in which, to an extent, the people pass their own laws, judge the constitutionality of statutes, and even have written, in effect, their own constitution. In this propitious volume, Gregory Fossedal reports on the politics and social fabric of what James Bryce has called "the nation that has taken the democratic idea to its furthest extent." The lessons Fossedal presents, at a time of dissatisfaction with the role of money and privileged elites in many Western democracies, are at once timely and urgent. In Direct Democracy in Switzerland, Fossedal has developed a shrewd, sensitive overview of Switzerland's high notion of statecraft. He details the reasons for studying Switzerland's distinctive institutions, and explores the origins and development of the ancient Swiss democracy, which reaches back a thousand years. He shows how Switzerland handles the political questions common to all modern societies, such as education, taxes, crime, welfare, the Holocaust. He concludes with the ongoing debate over two very different visions of democracy, direct versus representative. Paolo Dardenelli in Regional and Federal Studies described the book in its cloth edition as offering "many valuable insights into Swiss political life and written in a light, refreshing journalistic style." Amity Shales of the Financial Times commented that "Fossedal shines a brilliant spotlight on a form of governance...with lessons for the rest of us. His review of the referendum process there is required reading for lawmakers, political consultants and voters."

Fossedal, G. (2002). Direct democracy in Switzerland. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 0765800780

Some excerpts from this book are available online.

Also see:

• Introduction to Swiss direct democracy (23m 36s)
• Subtle effects of Swiss direct democracy (4m 42s)

photo: 

photo: 

As both an elected public official and a private citizen, I have become increasingly distressed over the continuing exclusion of the people from any meaningful role in our governmental, economic, and social power structures. At the same time, I have become acutely aware of the rising dissatisfaction and crumbling patience among citizens constantly frustrated in efforts to participate in decision-making processes which directly impinge on their lives. Gravel, M. (1972) Citizen power: A people's platform. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. ISBN 0030914655

photo: 

[original] Ballot initiatives, though sometimes perceived as the tool of special interests, actually reflect the wishes of the majority, says a new book by John Matsusaka, professor of finance and business economics in the USC Marshall School of Business.

“For the Many or the Few: The Initiative, Public Policy and American Democracy” (University of Chicago Press) analyzes the initiative, a process in which citizens propose new laws by gathering the signatures of peers.

To write the book, Matsusaka examined more than a century of data from 50 states and 4,700 cities – including tax and spending data, and opinion data – to gauge the majority’s preference.

In comparing the policies created by the initiative to the expressed preference of the voters, he found that in each instance, the initiative reflected the majority’s preference.

“The idea that the initiative process empowers special interests doesn’t fit with the facts,” Matsusaka said. “You can still dislike the initiative process after seeing my results, but not because you think it allows special interests to subvert the majority.”

“For the Many or the Few” also tackles the preconception that the initiative process is a recent expression of democracy, when in fact it was first incorporated into a state constitution – South Dakota’s – in 1898.

“People have the idea that this is something new,” said Matsusaka, also president of the Initiative & Referendum Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank based at USC. “It’s been around a long time, and it’s clear the sky hasn’t fallen because of it.”

That said, Matsusaka cites “unprecedented growth” in the popularity of initiatives in the last 10 to 15 years. “People are much more educated and have access to much more information,” he said. “Therefore, people see less and less need to turn over authority on broad policy decisions. The government is left to implement them.”

Other key findings in “For the Many or the Few”:

Generally, the initiative seems to have pushed policy in a fiscally conservative direction since about 1970, reducing the spending and taxes of state and local governments. However, “there is no evidence that voters irrationally use the initiative to cut their taxes while at the same time increasing spending,” Matsusaka said.

By contrast, voters in the early 20th century used an initiative to increase spending on public schools and welfare, progressive acts in the face of legislatures dominated by conservative interests. “The initiative is best seen as a device to push policy back toward the middle of the political spectrum when the elected government strays too far in the conservative or liberal direction,” Matsusaka said.

Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have the initiative procedure. According to the 2000 census, that represents a total population of 136 million, or roughly half the nation’s total.

About 70 percent of the U.S. population lives in either a state or city with the initiative. It’s most widespread in the West, but can be found in all regions of the country, from the Northeast (Maine, Massachusetts) to the Midwest (Michigan, Ohio) to the South (Arkansas, Florida).

Direct democracy flourishes outside the United States as well. Ten European countries allow initiatives, as do six of the post-Soviet states and the proposed constitution for the European Union. Most European countries use referendums – a measure passed on for a popular vote by a legislative body – for important public decisions; 29 elections were held on European integration alone.

Matsusaka’s book is careful to avoid any opinion on the effects of initiatives. “What’s a ‘good’ policy is a really subjective question,” Matsusaka said, adding, “Our constitution is designed to stifle majority rule if minority rights are threatened.”

In his findings, 70 to 80 percent of voters are glad to have the initiative process. “On balance, people think it’s better to have initiatives than not,” Matsusaka said. “It’s not perfect, but government never is.”

Matsusaka, J. G. (2004). For the many or the few: The initiative, public policy, and American democracy. University Of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226510816

photo: 

This book is the most comprehensive reference guide to more than 200 years of experience with the initiative and referendum process in Europe. With the European Union enlarging with ten new countries and the continent heading to its first Europe-wide referendum, the book offers background, facts, and analysis from more than 35 countries that will help the reader understand these important and emerging events. The volume also explores and describes criteria and requirements for a working I&R process at all political levels.

Kaufmann, B., & Waters, M. D. (2004). Direct democracy in Europe: A comprehensive reference guide to the initiative and referendum process in Europe. Carolina Academic Press. ISBN 0-89089-262-8

A strange sight, indeed: Popular sovereignty is taken seriously in a discussion of the Constitution. In this populist interpretation of the Constitution, Amar (Law/Yale) and Hirsch (a freelance writer and graduate of Yale Law School) insist that ``we the people'' denotes a collective entity, not a collection of individuals. They contend that viewing the Constitution ``through the prism of the individual'' has overemphasized the majority-rule/minority-rights debate and has been reinforced by the tendency to dissect discrete passages rather than interpret the document as a whole. We have come to assume that ``rights'' refers to individual rights, ignoring the politically more fundamental conception of rights held by the public as a whole. Amar and Hirsch respond to this deficiency by exploring the implications of a broad reading (not to be confused with loose construction) of the Constitution regarding constitutional amendment, juries, and the military. In this volume's most controversial argument, the authors maintain that the specific procedures for amendment outlined in the Constitution do not preclude direct amendment by majority vote of the populace. The logic is inescapably democratic: If popular sovereignty is meaningful, how could the people be deprived of the right to amend the Constitution? Similarly, Amar and Hirsch find inalienable rights applicable to juries and the military, with straightforward implications. Peremptory challenges eliminating a candidate from jury service, for example, are not consistent with either the citizen's right to serve or the public's right to try the accused. Access to military service is no less a citizen's right or a public concern, consequently the authors argue that blocking the entry of gays or women into the ranks is indefensibleif the rights of ``we the people'' are truly paramount. Consistent and contentious throughout, Amar and Hirsch offer an analysis that should threaten both liberals and conservatives with a commitment to popular sovereignty both like to avoid. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Amar, A. R., Hirsch A. (1999). For the People: What the Constitution Really Says About Your Rights. Touchstone. ISBN 0684871025

photo: 

photo: 

Educated by Initiative moves beyond previous evaluations of public policy to emphasize the educational importance of the initiative process itself. Since a majority of ballots ultimately fail or get overturned by the courts, Smith and Tolbert suggest that the educational consequences of initiative voting may be more important than the outcomes of the ballots themselves. The result is a fascinating and thoroughly-researched book about how direct democracy teaches citizens about politics, voting, civic engagement and the influence of special interests and political parties. Designed to be accessible to anyone interested in the future of American democracy, the book includes boxes (titled "What Matters") that succinctly summarize the authors' data into easily readable analyses.

Smith, D. A., & Tolbert, C. J. (2004). Educated by Initiative: The Effects of Direct Democracy on Citizens and Political Organizations in the American States. University of Michigan Press.