Initiative Process

[Taylor Willingham <taylor@bwillingham.com>]

There have been a number of concerns raised about increasing our use of the initiative or referendum process. 

There is a sense that making it too easy to vote someone out of office could have a destabilizing effect. 

The possibility for special interests to by-pass legislators through the initiative process is also a concern that you have expressed. 

One supporter who saw this action as a means to increase citizens involvement in policy decision-making did so with the caveat that this action would require some format or medium for citizens to deliberate first. Others of you have warned, however, that voter burnout due to the overwhelming amount of information (as you are experiencing in staying abreast of this conversation) makes this choice problematic. 

Several participants have reminded us of our system of representative government and have expressed the feeling that "the initiative process negates our representative government by bypassing our elected representatives" and may lead to LESS accountability.

QUESTION:
EVEN though there has not been strong support to increase the use of ballot initiatives, what do you imagine is the reason why supporters of choice 2 would propose this course of action? What is it that they are trying to accomplish? Stated another way, what is important to them? Perhaps some of our colleagues who are reporting in from states that have a very active initiative process can elaborate on the original intent. (As one person stated, "it's a good intent gone bad." What was the "good intent"?) We've identified a number of concerns with this action, but what are some of the best possible outcomes that we might achieve another way?