voting

Our Insanely Direct Democracy

A Panel Suggests California’s Ballot Initiatives Could Work Better With a Lot, Lot, Lot of Changes

Some say you can never have too much wealth or too much good health, but can you have too much democracy?

California has one of the world’s most robust systems for allowing citizens to propose laws directly to voters, bypassing elected officials. Almost every election includes a handful of state and local ballot measures that allow voters to weigh in on topics that range from the deeply personal (marriage law) to the highly wonky (supermajority requirements).

Joe Mathews, an Irvine Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation, moderated a panel at San …

Read More

Mend, If Not End

What’s the Single Best Thing We Can Do to Improve the Initiative Process?

California’s statewide system of direct democracy–the initiative, referendum, and recall–turns 100 years old this fall. Remarkably, the system approved by voters in October 1911 has not changed all that much …

Can Deliberative Polling Work?

Debating the Prospects for What's Next California

Ask Californians how to fix their state, and the answers aren’t helpful – because most voters don’t know the basics of how the state works, and their solutions are based …

Debating California’s New Boundaries

Redistricting: Improved Political Representation Or More of the Same?

Law professor Jessica Levinson opened a panel on California’s redistricting efforts by quoting panelist Dan Schnur, a veteran political communications strategist and director of University of Southern California’s Jesse M. …

How Will Redistricting Affect Constituents?

Debating Whether New Boundaries Can Bring True Change

For the first time, California’s citizens are taking charge of the redistricting process, which determines the boundaries of the state’s political districts. The Citizens Redistricting Commission’s draft maps, which were …

The Rap on This Map

Redistricting Will Fix Everything in California - Except For Its Problems

by Jennifer A. Steen |

Goodbye, polarized California. Hello, moderation and good governance. The first batch of maps is out, and the reviews are in. “A triumph for citizens” raves the Los Angeles Times. “Redistricting …


By continuing to use our website, you agree to our privacy and cookie policy.

✕

Get More Zócalo

No paywall. No ads. No partisan hacks. Ideas journalism with a head and a heart.

You may opt out or contact us anytime.

×