"The Oregon System of “Initiative, Referendum, and Recall” was exported to many states, including Idaho, Washington, and Wisconsin. Many progressives, such as George M. Forbes - president of Rochester’s Board of Education - hoped to make government in the U.S. more responsive to the direct voice of the American people..."(1)

"initiatives, referendums, and recalls, along with direct primaries and the direct election of US Senators, were the core achievements of ‘direct democracy’ by the Progressive generation during the first two decades of the twentieth century."(1)

The trick is in ”direct voice of the American people” which effectively is a sham end-run around The Republic with a Democracy based system. The systems are driven by a simple majority of the votes cast in the elections.

To be “truly democratic” it should require as a minimum a 50%+ majority of the “registered voters” to be passed.

However, as it stands now an election with a 20% turnout can pass a law if just 50%+1 of the votes (10%+1 of the registered voters) approve it!

In a state where the typical voter registration is around 60% of those eligible it means 6% of the voter base can control the rest!!!

Thus the requirement should be that an amount equal to 50%+1 of the “registered voters” must approve an item for passage.

Aa minimal alternate adjustment would be requirement of a 66%+1 majority of votes cast to pass an item.

Look at the egregious and stupid laws passed by Initiatives, Propositions or Referendums in your state.

Even simple pure democracy(2) is anarchy that is why the USA is not a Democracy but a “Democratic Representative Republic”.

The Progressive Initiative, Proposition and Referendum systems need to be adjusted or eliminated from The Republic.

Malcolm T. Hedges

1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressivism_in_the_United_States

2) democracy - “1 a: government by the people; especially : rule of the majority b : a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.”