Steven Greenhut on Progressives' New Cry: Power to the Legislators
(cc)
Few things have defined California's politics more than the three election reforms championed by the state's 23rd governor – the initiative, the referendum and the recall. Hiram Johnson's system of direct democracy, used early and often in California since 1911, was designed to place power in the hands of "the people." That era's "progressives" believed voters needed the power to circumvent legislators. Unfortunately, writes Steven Greenhut, today's progressives don't. The California Senate just approved a bill to rein in ballot initiatives.