Dangerous Democracy? The Battle over Ballot Initiatives in America

Direct democracy is alive and growing in the form of statewide ballot initiatives. Currently, twenty-four states allow individuals and groups to propose laws for direct voter consideration and tens of millions of dollars flow into the initiative industrial complex each election cycle. This book assesses the health of the initiative process through the insights of the leading initiative scholars, top journalists, and important political consultants from across the country. The book provides a critical and balanced look into a political mechanism that is having a profound influence on American politics.

Larry J. Sabato is Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Government and Foreign Affairs and Director of the Center for Governmental Studies at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Howard R. Ernst is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the United States Naval Academy. Bruce A. Larson is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Shaun Bowler is a professor of political science at the University of California, Riverside Bruce E. Cain is director of the Institute for Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Professor Cain has held his current position since 1999, but has been with the Institute for Governmental Studies for the past ten years. He has been a professor of political science at the University of California, Berkeley, since 1989 and the Robson Professor of Political Science since 1995. Todd Donovan is a professor of political science at Western Washington University and was recently a visiting lecturer at the University of Melbourne. Howard R. Ernst is assistant professor of political science at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis Maryland. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia's Woodrow Wilson School of Government and Foreign Affairs in 2000. Ron Faucheux is editor of Campaigns and Elections, a monthly magazine founded in 1980 that covers the nuts and bolts of political campaigning, and is a former political official, political candidate, campaign consultant, and analyst. Elisabeth R. Gerber is associate professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego. Paul Grant entered the legal profession after working as an army interrogator-linguist, a chemical engineer, and, intermittently, a political activist. Mike Gravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives in 1963-1966, before being elected to serve in the U.S. Senate in 1968. Douglas M. Guetzloe is president of Advantage Consultants, a research firm specializing in political consulting in the areas of public relations, governmental relations, and public opinion. Paul Jacob is the national director of U.S. Term Limits, the largest and most active term-limits advocacy group in the nation. Gale Kaufman is one of the leading Democratic campaign consultants in California and is known for her expertise in the strategy and structure of political campaigns. Bruce A. Larson is assistant professor of political science at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, New Jersey. Arthur Lupia is professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego, and a member of the National Election Studies' Board of Overseers. David McCuan was a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1997-1998 and is presently a member of the adjunct faculty at the University of California, Riverside; Kenneth P. Miller presently works for the law firm of Attorney, Morrison and Foerster, focusing on political regulation. Kenneth Mulligan is a doctoral student of American politics at Ohio State University. Larry J. Sabato is the Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Government and Foreign Affairs at the University of Virginia and the founder of the Center for Governmental Studies. Peter Schrag recently retired after nineteen years as editorial page editor of the Sacramento Bee. A lifelong journalist, he is now a senior correspondent for the American Prospect and continues to write a weekly column for the Bee. Daniel Smith is associate professor of political science at the University of Denver. Sue Tupper is the senior vice president of public affairs for APCO Worldwide, a public affairs and public relations firm. She has also managed or directed a variety of issue and candidate campaigns. M. Dane Waters is the founder, president, and cochairman of the Initiative and Referendum Institute, a nonprofit educational and research organization, and founder and president of Americans for Sound Public Policy, which is dedicated to the expansion of initiative and referendum.