Last fall, I attended the first global forum on direct democracy, held in Aarau, Switzerland. Academics, journalists, and activists from 35 countries showed up. I can't explain how helpful the event was to my thinking. In California's daily political life, it's easy to think that the initiative and referendum process we have here are fixed things. But in a global perspective, we're a strange outlier, with an inflexible process.

The Initiative and Referendum Institute Europe, a leading sponsor of the forum, has just announced a second global forum, for Sept. 14-16 in South Korea. Details are here. I hope that Californians and Americans with an interest in direct democracy will find a way to join us. (Last time, the United States of America was represented by yours truly and Mike Gravel. With all due respect to Sen. Gravel, we can do better).

A third global forum is already in the works. It's likely to be held in California in 2010, a time when voters here may be considering whether to call a constitutional convention. More to come on this in the future.

Last week's summit of direct democracy experts in Salzburg, sponsored by the Initiative and Referendum Institute Europe and an Austrian law institute, produced a series of recommendations for the European Union on how to implement the first transnational ballot initiative in the world. The initiative power is part of the Lisbon Treaty, a European constitutional reform that is likely to be adopted later this year. (The Irish have been holding it up).

This European initiative is not a full citizen's initiative, which produces a binding popular vote on substantial. It's what Americans might call an "indirect initiative" -- it only forces the EU parliament to consider proposals.

There were two iitems of interest in this "Salzburg Manifesto" to anyone who follows direct democracy: 

-Access. The summit manifesto calls for reducing the number of countries that must sign onto an initiative for it to move forward. It also suggests providing more time for collecting signatures, which would make the process more open and less costly.

-Digital signatures. The manifesto argues for permitting signature gathering over the Internet, and urges the EU to set up systems to do this. If such a signature gathering model emerges in Europe, it might be adapted here in the U.S. States prohibit such electronic signature gathering, but the idea is attractive because it could reduce the expense of qualifying measures for the ballot.

For those interested in learning more, the full Salzburg Manifesto is attached to this post.

Your blogger just spoke via Skype to the European Citizens Initiative Summit in Salzburg, Austria. The EU is on its way to adding the initiative -- it would be the first transnational initiative -- but there is not yet agreement on how to structure the initiative. I was asked about the May 19 special election, California's Austrian governor, the possibility of a national initiative in the U.S., and the prospects both for a constitutional convention and for changes in the initiative and referendum process here in California.

The Austria summit is sponsored by an Austrian Institute for European Law and Policy and by the Initiative & Referendum Institute Europe. (A forum on the European citizen's initiative, for you German speakers out there, is here). Bruno Kaufmann, a journalist and president of IRI Europe, raised the prospect of putting together a global forum on direct democracy in California -- perhaps with timing that coincides with discussion (or even a vote) on holding a constitutional convention. Look for more details here in the future.

Ballot initiatives don't implement themselves. People must do the implementing. So what happens to successful ballot initiatives after they pass? 

Kenneth Miller, a government professor at Claremont McKenna, is building a database of successful initiatives. It's available here. Miller is focusing in particular on court challenges. This is a valuable tool. One lesson: many initiatives that pass never take full effect. (Hat tip: Bruno Kaufmann, president of IRI Europe)