Submitted by Evan Ravitz on March 17, 2008 - 5:25pm.
In Switzerland many problems with ballot initiatives are solved by allowing petitions to sit at government offices, supermarkets, etc., so people can read and sign at leisure. This minimizes lying abut initiatives, pressuring peope to sign them, AND the money needed to pay petitioners. Here in the U.S. "our" representatives consider people power their enemy and refuse this easy solution; instead seeking to make initiatives even harder.
There are many other proposals to improve initiatives which legislators ignore. The 2 best are the National Initiative project, led by famed former Senator Mike Gravel: http://Vote.org and Citizens Initiative Review: http://cirwa.org
National Initiatives have been voted the #2 idea for the next President's agenda. You can vote for it, other ideas, or propose your own ideas, at http://www.ondayone.org/ideas?sort=votes
Swiss show the solution; politicians reject it
In Switzerland many problems with ballot initiatives are solved by allowing petitions to sit at government offices, supermarkets, etc., so people can read and sign at leisure. This minimizes lying abut initiatives, pressuring peope to sign them, AND the money needed to pay petitioners. Here in the U.S. "our" representatives consider people power their enemy and refuse this easy solution; instead seeking to make initiatives even harder.
There are many other proposals to improve initiatives which legislators ignore. The 2 best are the National Initiative project, led by famed former Senator Mike Gravel: http://Vote.org and Citizens Initiative Review: http://cirwa.org
National Initiatives have been voted the #2 idea for the next President's agenda. You can vote for it, other ideas, or propose your own ideas, at http://www.ondayone.org/ideas?sort=votes
Evan Ravitz,
founder, Vote.org