Granted, not all states are as sophisticated (is that the right word?) as California when it comes to the initiative process. But more and more American citizens are engaging in governance by proposition. Todays Arizona Republic covers an interesting dynamic developing in initiative states: frustration with state governments that don't allow flexibility in allowing for greater citizen involvement.
One political consultant laments the trend in Arizona, where fully a third of petitions have been disqualified, as a threat to an Arizonian tradition. Sounds remarkably like the California political tradition and perhaps a throwback to the zeitgeist of a previous progressive era that was sweeping the nation 100 years ago when Arizon became a state and California built the foundation for the initiative process.
Initiatives and proposition campaigns have been with us for 100 years. Critics will suggest that they have run amok. I would suggest they re-read their histroy and recognize that this very process was established for precisely the situation we find ourselves in today - in states all over the country - state governments are incapable of addressing the policy challenges confronting us. We have an enshrined right to participate in the governance of our states, and those that believe that too much citizen involvement is a bad thing are the true threat to the health of our democratic institutions.
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