2000 League of Women Voters position on Charter Commission

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New book: Democracy Derailed Comments from David Broder Despite its popular appeal and reformist roots, this method of lawmaking. is alien to the spirit of the Constitution and its carefully crafted set of checks and balances... though derived from acentury-old idea favored by the Populist and Progressive movements as a weapon against special-interest influence, the initia- tive has become a favored tool of interest groups and millionaires with their own political and personal agendas. [They] have learned that the initiative is a more efficient way of achieving their ends than the cumbersome and often time-consuming process of supporting condidates for public office and then lobbying to pass legislation. It is clear that the initiative process has largely discarded its grass-roots ori- gins. It is no longer merely the province of idealistic volunteers who gather sig- natures to place legislation of their own devising on the ballot. Billionaire Paul Allen, cofounder of Microsolft, spent more than $8 mil- lion in support of a referendum on a new football stadium fo the Seattle Sea- hawks. Allen, who was negotiating to buy the team, even paid the $4 million cost of running the June 1997 special election-- in which Washington state voters narrowly agreed to provide public financing for part of the $425 mil- lion stadium bill Like so many other aspects of American politics, the initiative process has be- come big business. Lawyers, campaign consultants and signature-gathering firms see each election cycle as an opportunity to make money on initiatives that, in many cases, only a handful of people aze pushing. [In 1998, more than $250 mil- lion was spent in this lazgely uncontrolled and unexamined arena of politics.] Money is almost always a major or dominant factor. The majority of the 200 petitions for statewide initiatives circulated in 1997 did not make it. The single obstacle that eliminated most of them was the ready cash needed to hire the companies that wage initiative campaigns. [$92 million was spent on a battle in California over legalizing casino gambling on Indian land.] "When I began researching the initiative process, I was agnostic about it. But now that I've heazd the azguments and seen the initiative industry in action, the choice is easy. I would choose James Madison and the Constitution's checks and balances over the seductive simplicity of an up or down vote. Our experience with direct democracy during the last two decades is that wealthy individuals and spe- cial interests have learned all too well how to subvert the initiative process to their own purposes." "Admittedly, representative government has acquired a dubious reputation to- day. But as citizens, the remedy isn't to avoid our elected representatives. The best weapon against the ineffective, the weak and the corrupt is in our hands each Election Day."