Citizens in Charge Foundation -- led by Paul Jacob, best known as leader of the term limits movement and as a member of the now free Oklahoma 3 -- is building what, in my experience, appears to be the first truly national organizing network around initiative and referendum.

In an email, Citizens in Charge says it now has 13 "Citizen State Coordinators" (the goal is to have someone in every state) to work to defend and expand initiative and referendum rights in the states. More about this here. Whatever you think of Jacob's politics, this is a smart move  that will encourage more thinking about direct democracy and, one hopes, more civic engagement.

For those interested in direct democracy, today's personnel move by California Republican gubernatorial contender Steve Poizner, the state's insurance commissioner, is worth noting. He's hired Bettina Inclan as his campaign press secretary.

Inclan comes to the campaign from Citizens in Charge, the non-profit run by Paul Jacob and dedicated to protecting the initiative and referendum. There's reason to believe that protecting initiative rights could be a part of Poizner's campaign. Poizner seized on a remark two months ago made by his rival Meg Whitman, the former eBay chief, in which she suggested the proposition process had outlived its usefulness. And the process is likely to come under scrutiny next year as various good government groups attempt reforms of California's governing system. Hiring Inclan gives the campaign someone who knows these issues intimately.

Paul Jacob, the term limits advocate, emails and says that Citizens In Charge, his organization to advocate for the initiative process and the rights of people to petition their government, is growing. A year in, the group -- which is really two groups (one a 501 c 3, the other a different kind of non-profit, a c4) -- has six employees and is working on several fronts, including making it easier to qualify measures for the ballot in Oklahoma. If he's successful in opening up the process in Oklahoma (where the attorney general unsuccessfully attempted to prosecute Jacob for ballot initiative work), it would be especially sweet. The state is probably the hardest place in America to qualify an initiative, because of government hostility and a tight, 90-day time limit on signature gathering.