News

• Bring initiative to public view
• Much of the body politic is cynical and unsatisfied with American government. Read the Rest...


• State initiatives being hijacked by corporations
• Washington state’s system of voter initiatives was enacted as a means for citizens to keep the state legislature in check. It represents a proud reminder of what our Founding Fathers envisioned when they spoke of checks-and-balances. That is not the case this year. More than $30 million has been spent so far on this year’s initiatives. This money is not coming from average voters. Rather, it is coming from special interests, corporations and unions intent on putting their stamp on Washington politics. Read the Rest...


• Referendum would needlessly exceed debt limit even with funding
• There's a saying in political circles that goes something like this: "Laws are like sausages - it is best not to see them being made." The legislative process can be ugly at times. But so can direct democracy through the citizen-driving initiatives and referenda.   Such is the case this year with two sets of conflicting propositions on the November general election ballot.   Read the Rest...


• Putting the People Back in Direct Democracy
• Supporters of direct democracy - initiative, referendum and recall - like to go on about "The People." But the official role of the people in California's initiative process is limited. The people give their signatures to paid petition circulators. And they vote on measures. That's it. One consensus that emerged from the recent 2010 Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy in San Francisco was this: the people should and could have a bigger role throughout the process. Read the Rest...


• Do you trust the people?
• “Do you trust the people?” We had barely been seated at the restaurant when my guest fired off his query. I had asked him to lunch after a state capitol event, where he was advocating that Minnesota should trade its bicameral legislature for a unicameral, and I had been pitching the idea of establishing statewide initiative and referendum. He was a little skeptical of initiative and referendum. I was completely certain that without the initiative his idea would never see the light of day. Read the Rest...


• Is It Public Service or Servicing the Public?
• By Jim Morford As summer is officially underway we find ourselves as a nation about half-way through the process by which political parties select the candidates who will carry their banner into the fall General Election. Read the Rest...


• No doctor for Alabama
• Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert Bentley has a campaign ad that ends with this phrase: “Alabama needs a doctor.” Our government needs to be cured of its ills, but it doesn’t need a doctor. The medication to cure many, if not most, of the ills of our government is called “Initiative and Referendum.” Read the Rest...


• Why I Reject Mike Gravel’s National Initiative
• For some time now, Mike Gravel, a former Democratic Senator representing Alaska, has been advocating the National Initiative for Democracy (NI4D).  It was, in fact, the main focus of his 2008 campaign for the U.S. presidency. Read the Rest...


• Mike Gravel talks about Palin, his new TV show, pot and more on The Young Turks
• On April 30, Mike Gravel – who was a contender for the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination in 2008 – took part in an interview on the online news show The Young Turks. Much of the interview focused on a television show Gravel is working to produce called “I Like Mike.” According to Gravel, it will be a satire with the premise that he has been elected president and the direct democracy which he advocates for has been implemented. Read the Rest...


• Flying Blind in Policy Reforms
• The long and divisive fight over U.S. health care reform exposed basic weaknesses in the processes of governance. As is so often true in American politics these days, politicians and lobbyists kept complex subjects to themselves, pushing expert discussion and systematic public debate to the sidelines. Although the final legislation expands coverage, and I favor it for that reason, it falls far short of the changes we need to lower costs and improve health outcomes. Read the Rest...