POLS 207 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Direct Democracy

• School: Texas A&M University
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POLS 207
• Professor: Megan Kathleen Dyer

Document Summary

Direct democracy: not present at national level, no nationwide voting on laws or amendments, no provision for a national referendum, found only at state & local levels of government. Three instruments of direct democracy: referendum, most common, voters go to the polls, instead of choosing people just in their local office, they might also see a provision/referendums that they can vote yes or no on. Initiative in the states: what can voters initiate, constitutional amendments, statutes (regular laws, both, neither, texas: all state-level referenda from legislative proposal or commission, california: 17 initiatives on 2016 ballot! Initiatives bypass the capital & its powerholders: sometimes lawmakers will try to preempt initiatives, often address many hot button issues & reforms, drugs, same-sex marriage, abortion, etc. Initiative campaigns: becoming more sophisticated and expensive, great orgnazation required, get signatures by deadline, get information to voters. What do yes and no actually mean: get people out to vote, many citizens initiatives sponsored by interest groups.