Dangerous Democracy? The Battle over Ballot Initiatives in America

by Sabato, Larry J.; Ernst, Howard R.; Larson, Bruce A.; Bowler, Shaun; Cain, Bruce E.; Donovan, Todd; Faucheux, Ron; Gerber, Elisabeth R.; Grant, Paul; Lupia, Arthur; McCuan, David S.; Mulligan, Kenneth; Schrag, Peter; Smith, Daniel A.; Tupper, Sue

• ISBN13: 9780742510418
• ISBN10: 0742510417
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-04-11
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

Direct democracy is alive and growing in the form of statewide ballot initiatives. Currently, twenty-four states allow individuals and groups to propose laws for direct voter consideration and tens of millions of dollars flow into the initiative industrial complex each election cycle. This book assesses the health of the initiative process through the insights of the leading initiative scholars, top journalists, and important political consultants from across the country. The book provides a critical and balanced look into a political mechanism that is having a profound influence on American politics.

Author Biography

Larry J. Sabato is Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Government and Foreign Affairs and Director of the Center for Governmental Studies at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Howard R. Ernst is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the United States Naval Academy. Bruce A. Larson is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Shaun Bowler is a professor of political science at the University of California, Riverside Bruce E. Cain is director of the Institute for Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Professor Cain has held his current position since 1999, but has been with the Institute for Governmental Studies for the past ten years. He has been a professor of political science at the University of California, Berkeley, since 1989 and the Robson Professor of Political Science since 1995. Todd Donovan is a professor of political science at Western Washington University and was recently a visiting lecturer at the University of Melbourne. Howard R. Ernst is assistant professor of political science at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis Maryland. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia's Woodrow Wilson School of Government and Foreign Affairs in 2000. Ron Faucheux is editor of Campaigns and Elections, a monthly magazine founded in 1980 that covers the nuts and bolts of political campaigning, and is a former political official, political candidate, campaign consultant, and analyst. Elisabeth R. Gerber is associate professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego. Paul Grant entered the legal profession after working as an army interrogator-linguist, a chemical engineer, and, intermittently, a political activist. Mike Gravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives in 1963-1966, before being elected to serve in the U.S. Senate in 1968. Douglas M. Guetzloe is president of Advantage Consultants, a research firm specializing in political consulting in the areas of public relations, governmental relations, and public opinion. Paul Jacob is the national director of U.S. Term Limits, the largest and most active term-limits advocacy group in the nation. Gale Kaufman is one of the leading Democratic campaign consultants in California and is known for her expertise in the strategy and structure of political campaigns. Bruce A. Larson is assistant professor of political science at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, New Jersey. Arthur Lupia is professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego, and a member of the National Election Studies' Board of Overseers. David McCuan was a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1997-1998 and is presently a member of the adjunct faculty at the University of California, Riverside; Kenneth P. Miller presently works for the law firm of Attorney, Morrison and Foerster, focusing on political regulation. Kenneth Mulligan is a doctoral student of American politics at Ohio State University. Larry J. Sabato is the Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Government and Foreign Affairs at the University of Virginia and the founder of the Center for Governmental Studies. Peter Schrag recently retired after nineteen years as editorial page editor of the Sacramento Bee. A lifelong journalist, he is now a senior correspondent for the American Prospect and continues to write a weekly column for the Bee. Daniel Smith is associate professor of political science at the University of Denver. Sue Tupper is the senior vice president of public affairs for APCO Worldwide, a public affairs and public relations firm. She has also managed or directed a variety of issue and candidate campaigns. M. Dane Waters is the founder, president, and cochairman of the Initiative and Referendum Institute, a nonprofit educational and research organization, and founder and president of Americans for Sound Public Policy, which is dedicated to the expansion of initiative and referendum.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Introduction	ix
Larry J. Sabato
Bruce A. Larson
Howard R. Ernst
The Historical Role of Narrow-Material Interests in Initiative Politics	1	(32)
Howard R. Ernst
Challenging Initiatives: More than Just Special-Interest Money, an Issue of Political Civility	26	(4)
Sue Tupper
Initiative Politics: A Useful Blend of Vasted Interests and Citizen Politics	30	(3)
Douglas M. Guetzloe
The Populist Legacy: Initiatives and the Undermining of Representative Government	33	(38)
Bruce E. Cain
Kenneth P. Miller
Time to Walk the Talk	62	(4)
Mike Gravel
Dumber than Chimps? An Assessment of Direct Democracy Voters	66	(5)
Arthur Lupia
Campaign Financing of Ballot Initiatives in the American States	71	(30)
Daniel A. Smith
Regulations on the Ballot Initiative Process: Interfering with Political Liberty	90	(4)
Paul Grant
The Initiative Process: Where People Count	94	(7)
Paul Jacob
Political Consultants and the Initiative Industrial Complex	101	(42)
Todd Donovan
Shaun Bowler
David S. McCuan
The Initiative Campaign Business: A Consultant's Perspective	135	(4)
Gale R. Kaufman
Observations of Initiative Elections	139	(4)
Ron Faucheux
The Logic of Reform: Assessing Initiative Reform Strategies	143	(36)
Elisabeth R. Gerber
Prospects of Reforming the Initiative Process	172	(3)
M. Dane Waters
An Alligator in the Bathtub: Assessing Initiative Reform Proposals	175	(4)
Peter Schrag
A Call for Change: Making the Best of Initiative Politics	179	(16)
Larry J. Sabato
Howard R. Ernst
Bruce A. Larson
Response to ``A Call for Change''	190	(5)
Kenneth Mulligan
Notes	195	(8)
Bibliography	203	(16)
Index	219	(10)
About the Contributors	229