Governor Schwarzenegger has used ballot measures more often than any political figure in American history. He has spent more $25 million on his political career, most of that on ballot initiatives (and to the TV ads and signature gathering such campaigns require). He's kicked in more than $1 million into a new redistricting initiative which has little chance of passing. (CORRECTION: This $1.25 million donation comes not from personal funds--but from one of his political committees).This begs a question: is the blockbuster democracy industry taking advantage of the wealthy governor?

The answer is yes. But don't cry for Schwarzenegger, because the governor has only himself to blame. What do I mean by that? The governor has a habit of talking about what he's going to do before he does it -- publicly threatening a ballot initiative or making a big policy promise. When the promise involves an initiative, this style requires him to follow through and qualify measures for the ballot to maintain any political credibility. Consultants and signature gatherers -- and whatever else they are, they are not dumb -- see that, and realize that he can't afford to come up short. So they can all but name their price when dealing with him and his committees. The result has been repeated hoarding of signatures on the street by gatherers who know Schwarzenegger will have to raise the per-signature price to get his initiatives on the ballot. Vendors are in the driver's seat because they know he has to pay to show strength. And his political opponents know he has to push expensive initiative campaigns, so even if they want to make a deal to avert an initiative, they have a strong incentive to wait and force him to spend his money for making an agreement. (Former state senate leader John Burton did this twice in Schwarzenegger's first year). Another factor: Schwarzenegger has often delayed launching initiative signature gathering until shortly before qualification deadlines; these short timelines add to the price he pays.

So yes, it's a hold up. But by speaking loudly and making big promises to back measures, Schwarzenegger is allowing himself to be held up. Talking big about all you're going to do on the ballot is the direct democracy equivalent of wearing flashy jewelry and driving a flashy car in a dangerous neighborhood.  

Schwarzenegger does seem to understand this. On a number of occasions, he has seemed distressed by the high costs of his initiative efforts. While reporting a 2006 book on the governor, I learned that Schwarzenegger has a habit of questioning expenses for his initiative campaigns, though he intends to do the questioning after each campaign is over. After his first initiative campaign, the 2002 measure Prop 49 to set aside funding for after-school programs, Schwarzenegger personally reviewed campaigns expenses and grew angry when he saw how much the enterprise had cost. According to records and interviews, he had expected the whole thing to cost $10 million, and it ended up costing more than $1 million more.

After the 2005 special election debacle, the defeat and massive spending led Schwarzenegger to engage a friend, who was a former COO of the William Morris Agency, to review the costs. Schwarzenegger said that the review didn't turn up corruption ("It was not like someone ripped us off or someone misused money," he told Bob Salladay, then of the LA Times).  but the governor severed ties with many of his longtime consultants after that.

Governing by initiative is expensive. Schwarzenegger could save money by doing some of this work through intermediaries and by not being so outspoken and definitive about laying down markers in pursuing policies by ballot measure. But that would require the kind of low-key approach that isn't in this governor's DNA.