Referendum

(originally published at Fox & Hounds Daily)
Dear Mom,

I know I’ve never been your favorite. Which is why I almost didn’t write this letter. It’s probably a waste of time.

But you can only turn 100 once. And as you remember, mom, my centennial birthday is Monday. And just like always, my brother is getting all the attention.

(originally published at Fox & Hounds Daily)
There's an old Swiss saying: every time the referendum bell rings, an angel gets its wings.

OK, there's not really an old Swiss saying like that.

But there should be.

KHARTOUM, Sudan—"You see my home? You see my situation?" the chief from Tonj in southern Sudan asked me. Six wooden sticks were the sturdiest part of a shack that housed the chief and about 20 of his people in one of Khartoum's poorest suburbs. Woven grass and bamboolike material formed a roof that rain would pour straight through. There were no walls. Children between about 2 and 10 years old approached me cautiously, giggling when they came close. Several had orange-tinged hair, a sign of malnourishment. None were in school.

California is hardly the only place where voters, through initiative and referendum, make important decisions about government. As the state struggles with persistent budgetary and political problems, the world has been watching, with a combination of wonder and horror. What do direct democrats around the world think as they look at California? What might California learn from the world about its direct democratic system? And what might the rest of the world learn from us?

In referendum elections Sunday, Swiss voters approved an 0.4 percent temporary increase in the country's value added tax, with the money targeted to shoring up the finances of the country's disability insurance system. The referendum prevailed with 54 percent of the vote. Opponents had claimed that the system's problems stemmed from fraud by people in other countries who pretend to live in Switzerland. More here.

Late word today from the Washington Secretary of State: Referendum 71 -- the measure that would ask voters to reverse legislation granting all the rights of married couples to couples registered as domestic partners -- has "more than the bare minimum" of signatures needed to qualify for the ballot, according to preliminary tallies.

Florida's "Hometown Democracy" initiative, now headed for the 2010 ballot, may be the most important measure on an American ballot next year.

Friend of the blog Dennis Engbarth, a Taiwan-based journalist, writes with news of a threat to that country's new direct democracy: the party of President Ma Ying-jeou's, the Chinese Nationalist Party or Kuomintang, is trying to purge leadership of the Taiwan Democracy Foundation.

The foundation promotes democracy and has funded efforts to study direct democracy, which have led to the establishment of the referendum in Taiwan. Ma opposes direct democracy.

Until the Irish (and perhaps the British, if conservatives have their way) vote again on the Lisbon Treaty, the most interesting international ballot measure out there is New Zealand's referendum on spanking.

"Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?" is the question voters will confront in a three-week-long, non-binding referendum beginning in late July. Another reason the vote is worth watching: it's the first referendum in that country to be conducted entirely by mail.

California's meltdown has been so all-consuming that it's been awhile since this blog checked in on direct democratic goings-on overseas. So here goes.

IRISH VIEWS SHIFT ON LISBON: The Irish voted down the Lisbon Treaty -- the de facto new constitution for the European Union last year. Now a new poll -- in advance of a likely fall vote on the treaty -- shows growing support in Ireland for the treaty. What's changed? The country's once-strong economy has collapsed.