Steven Greenhut on Progressives’ New Cry: Power to the Legislators

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.

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