CA EVENT: Blockbuster Democracy

Ninety-seven years ago this month (October 1911), Californians -- egged on by Progressive reformers -- added the recall, the referendum, and the initiative to the state constitution. As California completes its first century of direct democracy and prepares to vote on another ballot crowded with measures, is it time to reform the reform?

Californians treasure the right to decide public policy questions at the ballot. But there is growing concern about how direct democracy broadly, and the initiative specifically, work in practice. Voters tell pollsters that money and interest groups have too much power in the initiative process. Voters often suggest they are confused about the true effects of proposed ballot measures. State legislative leaders say that their discretion is limited -- and attempts at long-term planning are defeated -- by the tendency of voters to make budget and spending decisions at the ballot. Local officials encounter a similar problem when it comes to issues of land use.

There has been plenty of commentary about the problems with the initiative process. This event will offer ways to change it. See map: Google Maps

Participants

Joe Mathews, an Irvine senior fellow at the New America Foundation, will talk about the origins of direct democracy in Switzerland and how Americans adopted that process in a way that institutionalized conflict and favored the initiative over the other direct democratic tools. He'll present his idea for shifting the balance of direct democracy to make the referendum -- the act of reversing a legislative act -- more common and make use of the initiative rare.

Bob Stern of the Center for Governmental Studies will discuss the recently completed study of the initiative process by his group and the California Commission on Campaign Financing. He'll offer the study's many recommendations for changing the initiative, from more legislative review of initiatives to longer circulation periods to easier access to initiative petitions over the Internet.

Anthony Rubenstein, managing partner of SinoTransPacific Ventures and chairman of Californians for Clean Energy, sponsor of Proposition 87 in 2006, will offer his views on the initiative process from the perspective of a citizen policy entrepreneur who developed an idea that led to one of the most expensive initiative battles in history.

Mark Paul, senior scholar at the New America Foundation, will outline the impact of successful initiatives on Californian's troubled finances and offer ideas for aligning ballot measures with the budget process.

Rick Jacobs of the Courage Campaign will explain how his Internet-based effort intends to pursue reform of the initiative process as part of a larger "Contract With California." He'll also discuss how this effort fits in with other political reform efforts in California, including the Leon Panetta-led California Forward and the Bay Area Council's drive for a constitutional convention.

Peter Schrag, columnist for the Sacramento Bee and author of California: America's High-Stakes Experiment, will comment on the presentations.