Tyranny of the Initiative

Washington journalist David S. Broder has written what many California public officials strongly believe but dare not say out loud: The initiative process, which allows voters to write their own state laws, is “alien to the spirit of the Constitution” and is undermining our tradition of representative government. “It has given the United States something that seems unthinkable--not a government of laws but laws without government,” Broder writes.

These words come with considerable weight, for Broder knows the workings of local, state and federal government about as well as anyone. As a veteran political reporter and columnist for the Washington Post, Broder is a true student of the institution, not just within the Beltway but throughout the nation, which he travels indefatigably to find out what is stirring in the grass roots.

Broder’s new book is “Democracy Derailed--Initiative Campaigns and the Power of Money.” In it, he examines the proliferation of direct democracy, particularly since the revolution touched off by Proposition 13 in California in 1978, and the likelihood of a national campaign to force the initiative process onto the federal government. “Is California the model we want for the nation?” Broder asks. “Or is there enduring wisdom in the founders’ design?” Broder rightly stands by the constitutional model of representative government with its checks and balances.

The initiative process is sacrosanct in California and in most of the other 23 states that have this system of direct democracy. Periodic attempts to impose some reasonable checks and balances on the initiative have failed, even though polls show that Californians generally believe that ballot measures reflect the concerns of special-interest groups and not the average voter. They know that initiatives often result in poorly drafted laws that need to be straightened out in the courts. Still, few are willing to give up this cranky child of the progressive era in American politics.

Initiatives have indeed become the legislating tool of wealthy special-interest groups. The gathering of signatures for initiative petitions and the management of initiative campaigns are big business, especially in California. In one recent California election, money spent on initiatives nearly equaled the cost of all 100 legislative campaigns. Consider the $30 million spent on Proposition 226, the so-called Paycheck Protection Act, which pitted out-of-state conservatives against major unions in the 1998 primary, or the record $97 million on both sides of Proposition 5, the Indian gambling initiative, also in 1998.

Most of this is not news to anyone who pays attention to California government and politics, but it is good to take a fresh, hard look at this system, which begs for reform. Alas, reform begs for political leadership and courage and finds none.

Broder predicts that the forces of technology and public opinion will coalesce into a bombshell of a political movement favoring national voter initiatives. Such propositions might include hot-button issues like term limits for Congress or tax cuts, or any whim that the wealthy and well-organized care to put before voters.

At some point, Americans will be forced to decide whether to remain a republic or succumb to the popular will as it flashes across the country at e-mail speed. Our government of laws needs stronger defenders.