Download or read book Direct Democracy and the Courts written by Kenneth P. Miller and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2009-08-31 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book analyzes the conflict between two rising powers - direct democracy and the courts. Many voter-approved initiatives are challenged in court after the election and many are invalidated. The resulting conflict between the people and the courts threatens to produce a popular backlash against judges and raises profound questions about the proper scope of popular sovereignty and judicial power in a constitutional system.
Download or read book The Law of Direct Democracy written by Henry S. Noyes and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To access the 2014-15 supplement, click here. The Law Of Direct Democracy is the first casebook on direct democracy. This book uses state and federal judicial opinions, the text of ballot initiatives, statutes and constitutional provisions to compare and contrast the various state laws that govern the ballot initiative, the referendum and the recall. This book also contemplates the role of interest groups, voters, courts and elected officials and examines their ability to utilize, influence and limit the initiative process. It provides students and instructors both the information they need to learn the law of direct democracy and the tools to pursue further inquiry on discrete topics of interest. "Henry Noyes' comprehensive and detailed tome The Law of Direct Democracy is a thorough and meticulous study of all the practical issues pertaining to direct democracy. Limited to the US--where roughly half of the states have provisions for direct democracy--Noyes cites and analyses the major court cases and provides extracts to the major documents debating and challenging direct democracy, such as the Federalist Papers. The book gives a sober--and realistic--overview of the pros and cons of having a system that allows the voters to vote directly on laws. This book is not a polemic and nor does it take sides. It merely presents the facts and the 'law of direct democracy'. This is a valuable book and the sections on the 'recall' especially will provide interesting examples--and ammunition--for those who claim that the recall would lead to political chaos. This book may not become a run-away bestseller, but it is a valuable volume for those who have a scholarly interest in referendums." -- Matt Qvortrup, Political Studies Review "The current volume gathers together many of the 'hot topics' with respect to direct democracy in the United States. It is an eye-opening account (truncated for space reasons) of all the court cases that make up case law for direct democracy.... For those wanting to pursue a political voice that grows louder each year, this volume provides a useful filter to those issues. The summaries of the cases are easy to read and informative..." -- Mark Y. Herring, American Reference Books Annual 2015 and ARBAonline "The law relating to initiatives and referendums, though of great importance, is seldom taught in law schools and seldom studied by lawyers. With his excellent casebook on direct democracy, Professor Noyes has filled an important need." -- Dr. Joseph R. Grodin, Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Law, UC Hastings College of the Law; Former Associate Justice, California Supreme Court
Download or read book Direct Democracy and the Courts written by Kenneth P. Miller and published by . This book was released on 2014-05-14 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book analyzes the conflict between two rising powers - direct democracy and the courts.
Download or read book The People Vs the Courts written by Mathew Manweller and published by Academica Press,LLC. This book was released on 2005 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This research monograph analyses and describes how initiative elites react to the high level of judicial review of their successfully passed ballot measures and why those reactions are failing to decrease the number of judicial nullifications. For the last 30 years, state ballot measures that have passed and been challenged in court have been nullified at the ration of 1 out of 2. As a result of a 50% rate of nullification initiative elites have benefited from institutional learning and have become more sophisticated and politically savvy. However the nullification have hardly plummeted. The work explains why and posits other legal and political actions that may be possible for the ballot winners and their supporters.
Download or read book A Constitution of Direct Democracy written by Michael N Mautner, Ph. D. and published by Legacy Books. This book was released on 2000-01-01 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All people share the basic needs of survival and the social drives embedded in human nature. Survival demands sustenance, safety and procreation; and the social drives demand dignity, justice and freedom. These shared values emerge when the common will is distilled from the diverse wills of people. Where this communal wisdom governs, human dignity will be honored and our survival will be secure. This book describes a system of pure democracy where all major decision are done through referendums and statistically meaningful public opinion polls. The policies are then executed by expert agencies with oversight from public policy panels. The book also describes transition to Direct Democracy through Representatives pledged to "I shall vote in Congress or Parliament according to the instructions of my constituents."
Download or read book Direct Democracy in the United States written by Shauna Reilly and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Experts assess the connection between characteristics of petitioners, how they are able to influence their communities beyond the ballot box and how large an influence they are on specific areas of policy.
Download or read book Let the People Rule written by John G. Matsusaka and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2022-04-26 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How referendums can diffuse populist tensions by putting power back into the hands of the people Propelled by the belief that government has slipped out of the hands of ordinary citizens, a surging wave of populism is destabilizing democracies around the world. As John Matsusaka reveals in Let the People Rule, this belief is based in fact. Over the past century, while democratic governments have become more efficient, they have also become more disconnected from the people they purport to represent. The solution Matsusaka advances is familiar but surprisingly underused: direct democracy, in the form of referendums. While this might seem like a dangerous idea post-Brexit, there is a great deal of evidence that, with careful design and thoughtful implementation, referendums can help bridge the growing gulf between the government and the people. Drawing on examples from around the world, Matsusaka shows how direct democracy can bring policies back in line with the will of the people (and provide other benefits, like curbing corruption). Taking lessons from failed processes like Brexit, he also describes what issues are best suited to referendums and how they should be designed, and he tackles questions that have long vexed direct democracy: can voters be trusted to choose reasonable policies, and can minority rights survive majority decisions? The result is one of the most comprehensive examinations of direct democracy to date—coupled with concrete, nonpartisan proposals for how countries can make the most of the powerful tools that referendums offer. With a crisis of representation hobbling democracies across the globe, Let the People Rule offers important new ideas about the crucial role the referendum can play in the future of government.
Download or read book Cases and Materials on Direct Democracy in California written by Chris Micheli and published by . This book was released on 2021-05-24 with total page 566 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This casebook examines the initiative, referendum and recall. In each of the three sections of the casebook, we begin with an overview of the relevant law (both constitutional and statutory), followed by an explanation of the process, and then look at data provided by the California Secretary of State. There are a myriad of court decisions in California addressing legal issues that have arisen over the more than one hundred years these forms of direct democracy have existed in this state. The court decisions used in this casebook were chosen because they help explain the relevant law and provide a helpful analysis of the legal issues the court faced. After each decision, as well as with several sections of the explanatory materials, there are notes and questions provided to stimulate further thought and discussion of key legal issues raised. -- from publisher.
Download or read book Madison s Revenge written by Kenneth P. Miller and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 522 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Direct democracy written by Matt Qvortrup and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2015-11-01 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Should citizens be allowed to propose legislation? Should they even be allowed to recall politicians if they do not live up to their expectations? These questions and many others form the subject of this timely book. In addition to presenting an up to date review of the empirical literature, Direct democracy provides a survey of the political philosophers who have theorised about this subject. It is the central tenet in the book that the demand for direct democracy is a consequence of the demand for more consumer choices. Like consumers want individualised products, so voters want individualised and bespoke policies. Described by the BBC as "The world’s leading expert on referendums", the author, Matt Qvortrup, draws on his experience as a political advisor to the US State Department, as well as his extensive academic knowledge of direct democracy.
Download or read book Deliberative Democracy in America written by Ethan J. Leib and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2010-11-01 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We are taught in civics class that the Constitution provides for three basic branches of government: executive, judicial, and legislative. While the President and Congress as elected by popular vote are representative, can they really reflect accurately the will and sentiment of the populace? Or do money and power dominate everyday politics to the detriment of true self-governance? Is there a way to put &"We the people&" back into government? Ethan Leib thinks there is and offers this blueprint for a fourth branch of government as a way of giving the people a voice of their own. While drawing on the rich theoretical literature about deliberative democracy, Leib concentrates on designing an institutional scheme for embedding deliberation in the practice of American democratic government. At the heart of his scheme is a process for the adjudication of issues of public policy by assemblies of randomly selected citizens convened to debate and vote on the issues, resulting in the enactment of laws subject both to judicial review and to possible veto by the executive and legislative branches. The &"popular&" branch would fulfill a purpose similar to the ballot initiative and referendum but avoid the shortcomings associated with those forms of direct democracy. Leib takes special pains to show how this new branch would be integrated with the already existing governmental and political institutions of our society, including administrative agencies and political parties, and would thus complement rather than supplant them.
Download or read book The Legal Limits of Direct Democracy written by Moeckli, Daniel and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2021-07-31 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With the rise of direct-democratic instruments, the relationship between popular sovereignty and the rule of law is set to become one of the defining political issues of our time. This important and timely book provides an in-depth analysis of the limits imposed on referendums and citizens’ initiatives, as well as of systems of reviewing compliance with these limits, in 11 European states.
Download or read book The U S Supreme Court and the Electoral Process written by David K. Ryden and published by Georgetown University Press. This book was released on 2002-09-06 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The U.S. Supreme Court—at least until Bush v. Gore—had seemed to float along in an apolitical haze in the mind of the electorate. It was the executive branch and the legislative branch that mucked about in politics getting dirty, the judicial branch kept its robes—and nose—clean. The U.S. Supreme Court and the Electoral Process makes it abundantly clear however that before, during, and after the judicial decision that made George W. Bush the President of the United States, everything was, is, and will likely be, politics-including the decisions handed down by the highest court in the land. This revised and updated edition takes into account not only the recent famous (or infamous, depending on the reader's point of view) judicial decision on the Presidency, but a myriad of others as well in which the U.S. Supreme Court has considered the constitutionality of a wide range of issues involving voting and elections, representation, and political participation. Practitioners and academics in both law and political science examine a number of court actions that directly affect how we choose those who govern us, and how those decisions have affected our electoral politics, constitutional doctrine, and the fundamental concepts of democracy, including: racial redistricting, term limits, political patronage, campaign finance regulations, third-party ballot access, and state ballot initiatives limiting civil liberties. Of the first edition, CHOICE said, The U.S. Supreme Court and the Electoral Process "plumbs the Supreme Court's constitutive apolitical role as 'primary shaper of the electoral system' and reveals the pervasive involvement of the Court in the political process."
Download or read book Democratic Delusions written by Richard J. Ellis and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is becoming common in many states: the opportunity to reclaim government from politicians by simply signing a petition to put an initiative on the ballot and then voting for it. Isn't this what America ought to be about? Proposition 13 in California's 1978 election paved the way; the past decade saw more than 450 such actions; now in many states direct legislation dominates the political agenda and defines political—and public-opinion. While this may appear to be democracy in action, Richard Ellis warns us that the initiative process may be putting democracy at risk. In Democratic Delusions he offers a critical analysis of the statewide initiative process in the United States, challenging readers to look beyond populist rhetoric and face political reality. Through engaging prose and illuminating (and often amusing) anecdotes, Ellis shows readers the "dark side" of direct democracy—specifically the undemocratic consequences that result from relying too heavily on the initiative process. He provides historic context to the development of initiatives-from their Populist and Progress roots to their accelerated use in recent decades-and shows the differences between initiative processes in the states that use them. Most important, while acknowledging the positive contribution of initiatives, Ellis shows that there are reasons to use them carefully and sparingly: ill-considered initiatives can subvert normal legislative checks and balances, undermine the deliberative process, and even threaten the rights of minority groups through state-sanctioned measures. Today's initiative process, Ellis warns, is dominated not by ordinary citizens but by politicians, perennial activists, wealthy interests, and well-oiled machines. Deliberately misleading language on the ballot confuses voters and influences election results. And because many initiatives are challenged in the courts, these ostensibly democratic procedures have now put legislation in the hands of the judiciary. Throughout his book he cites examples drawn from states in which initiatives are used intensively—Oregon, California, Colorado, Washington, and Arizona-as well as others in which their use has increased in recent years. Undoing mistakes enacted by initiative can be more difficult than correcting errors of legislatures. As voters prepare to consider the host of initiatives that will be offered in the 2002 elections, this book can help put those efforts in a clearer light. Democratic Delusions urges moderation, attempting to teach citizens to be at least as skeptical of the initiative process as they are of the legislative process—and to appreciate the enduring value of the representative institutions they seek to circumvent.
Download or read book Citizens as Legislators written by Shaun Bowler and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Early in the twentieth century, many American states began experimenting with direct democracy. Direct democracy-primarily the initiative device-allows groups to place directly before voters laws affecting taxation, spending, term limits, school choice, gay rights, immigration, and numerous other state issues. Ballot initiatives were expected to allow citizens the option of getting around legislators, who were seen as beholden to wealthy interests; early defenders of the process argued it would make state politics more responsive to the public will, and more responsible. Citizens as Legislators examines direct democracy in America at the end of the twentieth century to see if it has lived up to these expectations. The twelve contributors to this volume use the American experience with direct democracy to investigate some fundamental questions of politics: Can modern democracy have direct citizen participation in legislation? What are the consequences of more (or less) direct citizen access to government? The authors look at the context of the initiative campaigns and detail the rise of the modern initiative campaign industry. They examine how campaigns affect voters and how voters deal with the array of decisions they face in direct democracy states. They go on to explain why certain policy outcomes are different in direct democracy states. Shaun Bowler is a professor of political science at the University of California, Riverside. Todd Donovan is a professor of Political Science at Western Washington University. He and Shaun Bowler are coauthors of Demanding Choices: Opinion, Voting, and Direct Democracy. Caroline J. Tolbert is an assistant professor of political science at Kent State University.
Download or read book Direct Democracy and Minorities written by Wilfried Marxer and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-02-27 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modern direct democracy has become an essential element of political life in many countries in Europe and worldwide. The initiative and referendum process offers extra channels for citizen participation and thus represents an important supplementary institution in modern democracies. This third volume of the series Direct Democracy in Modern Europe focuses on direct-democratic decisions on minority affairs. The main question is whether direct democracy tends towards a domination of the majority over a minority, producing new conflicts, or whether, how, and under what conditions it helps to solve problems in complex societies and leads to lasting solutions to political disputes. This volume includes articles by specialist researchers on - historical experiences of direct-democratic decisions on territorial conflicts; - theoretical considerations on direct democracy and minorities; - case studies on popular votes concerning minority issues; - several country case studies; - the role of the media in direct-democratic campaigns on minority affairs; - the potential of transnational direct democracy.
Download or read book Citizenship and Contemporary Direct Democracy written by David Altman and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Offers a comparative study of the origins, performance, and reform of contemporary mechanisms of direct democracy.
