| Introduction Are state voter initiatives (aka “direct democracy”) good or bad?.... The Economist magazine article entitled “The tyranny of the majority” opines that the voter initiative form of direct democracy has run amok. Voter initiatives are often the tool of moneyed and special interests groups, and can result in the “tyranny of the majority” in taking away minority rights. The founding fathers believed that a representative form of government is inherently more stable and less erratic than a direct democracy. Highlights from The Economist article are below, followed by discussion questions…… Read more by clicking on the above article title. Direct Democracy Favors The Moneyed? “In two dozen states new propositions are being readied to go before voters in 2010. Soon “bounty hunters”, paid by the sponsors, will appear on the streets to gather signatures in order to place initiatives on ballots.” “There are far too many initiatives because the signature-collection process is trivially easy for those with money (though daunting for those without it).” Direct Democracy A Tool Of Special Interests? Ronald George, Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, “wonders whether the voter initiative has now ‘become the tool of the very types of special interests it was intended to control, and an impediment to the effective functioning of a true democratic process.’” Direct Democracy’s Contributes To Dysfunction In California? “They [voter initiatives] play the biggest and most excessive role in California, where voters have directly amended the state’s constitution or statutes in matters big and small, from how to spend to how to tax, from regulating how fowl should be kept in coops to banning gays from marrying.” “Direct democracy in this form contributes to dysfunction. California currently has America’s worst budget problems, but other states with extensive direct democracy, such as its neighbours Arizona and Oregon (which has had more initiatives than even California), are close behind.” Direct Democracy Undermines Representative Democracy? “[B]y circumventing legislatures in the minutiae of governance ([regulating] chicken coops, for instance), direct democracy overrules, and often undermines, representative democracy.” Direct Democracy Can Threaten Individual Freedom? “[B]y letting majorities of those voting—who are often a minority of the state’s residents—circumscribe the rights of minorities (gays, in this case), direct democracy can threaten individual freedom.” James Madison Warned: “Tyranny of the majority”? “[I]t is the “tyranny of the majority” that James Madison, a Founding Father, warned about. His reading of ancient history was that the direct democracy of Athens was erratic and short-lived, whereas republican Rome remained stable for much longer.” ***** Postscript: Justice Moreno’s Reasons For Dissenting On Prop 8 ***** Carlos Moreno was the only California Supreme Court Justice who voted against Prop 8, which banned same-sex marriage. In a San Francisco Chronicle article entitled “Initiatives trample rights, Justice Moreno says,” Justice Moreno explains his concern that basic fundamental rights can be subject to change by a simple majority. Moreno cautions "’Majority rule is nice in concept, but I think there has to be some kind of restraint on that to fulfill the larger purpose of our democracy.’" “Moreno, in a [Prop 8] dissenting opinion, argued that such measures [as Prop 8] strike at the heart of constitutional equality and should be placed on the ballot, if at all, only by a two-thirds legislative vote or a state constitutional convention. … The ruling ‘places at risk the state constitutional rights of all disfavored minorities,’ he wrote.” Click on the above article title to read more of Justice Moreno’s opinions. **** Questions For Thought, Comment, And Small Group Discussion ***** (1) Do you think voter initiatives give more power to the moneyed and/or special interests – why or why not? Give examples and/or counter-examples? (2) Do you think voter initiatives are the main cause for California’s dysfunction and budget woes – why or why not? (3) How would you reform the voter initiative process? (4) Do you think representative democracy is more stable and less erratic than direct democracy – why or why not? (5) Do you think a direct democracy necessarily leads to a tyranny of the majority – why or why not? Give examples and/or counter-examples? (6) Do you think a direct democracy necessarily leads to the majority curbing individual freedoms of the minority – why or why not? Give examples and/or counter-examples?
(7) Do you agree with Justice Moreno that the Prop 8 ruling “places at risk the state constitutional rights of all disfavored minorities,” – why or why not? (8) Do you agree with Justice Moreno that Prop 8 “strike[s] at the heart of constitutional equality and should be placed on the ballot, if at all, only by a two-thirds legislative vote or a state constitutional convention” – why or why not? | 