California Must Modernize Its System of “Direct Democracy” To Bring It into the 21st Century

Ballot initiatives have reshaped the lives of California citizens for almost 100 years, but the initiative process is now outmoded, complex, difficult for citizens to use and excessively dominated by money. In a new report by our organization, the Center for Governmental Studies (CGS), Democracy by Initiative: Shaping California’s Fourth Branch of Government, we conclude that California must update its system of “direct democracy” to bring it into the 21st Century. Reforms are needed to help citizens draft, circulate and vote more effectively and responsibly on initiatives that can dramatically affect the future of the state.

Initiatives have touched nearly all aspects of California life, from law enforcement to taxation to education. However, the process is almost the same as it was when Hiram Johnson proposed it in 1911.
Initiatives have appeared on the ballot in great numbers in the last few decades and initiatives continue to be a popular mode of policymaking in the state. In the 1990s, for example, 61 initiatives qualified for the ballot. Voters approved 39 percent of those measures. The number of ballot initiatives continues to climb. From 2000–2008, 63 initiatives qualified for the ballot. Voters approved 30 percent of those measures.