Iniatives and democracy

[Cindy O'Connor &lt;cloconnor&gt;</li>]

I agree with Karyn.  The initiative process seems to be a good idea gone bad here in CA.  The League of Women Voters has studied this subject backwards and forwards and keeps coming back to the conclusion that it is an important vehicle that is worth keeping.  However, there are serious flaws with the way it is working.  Broder's book was so good at describing how initiatives have become a means of selling an idea to voters when it can't pass the Legislature.  We would like to have the process include legislative review before a measure goes on the ballot.  The Legislature could not kill a proposal, but could, with the author's consent, amend it, and even pass it.  What we have now is a 3 stage process:  qualifying, voting, and legal review.