The American tradition of direct democracy dates from the 1630s in the New England Colonies (Willard, 1858, Miller, 1991, and Zimmerman, December 1999). Some New England town meetings still carry on that tradition (Zimmerman, March 1999). Direct democracy comprises a form of democracy and theory of civics wherein all citizens can directly participate in the political decision-making process. ... Events and Trends Thirty Years War in full swing in Europe September 8, 1636 - A vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony establishes Harvard College as the first college founded in the Americas. ... Modern New England, the six northeastern-most states of the United States, indicated by red The New England region of the United States is located in the northeastern corner of the country. ... Betsy Ross purportedly sewed the first American flag with 13 stars and 13 stripes representing each of the 13 colonies. ... Town meeting is a form of local government commonly practiced in the U.S. region of New England, but uncommon elsewhere in the United States. ...

Beginning in 1877, millions of American farmers began banding together to break the post Civil War, small-farmer enslaving crop lien system with co-op economics (Goodwyn, 1976 and 1978). When they were bested by corrupt and abusive practices of the national financial sector, they attempted to improve their circumstances by forming the People's Party and engaging in populist politics. Again they were bested, this time by the country's mainstream two-party system. However, the Progressive Era had just begun. Before it ended, it would become the greatest democracy movement in recorded history. 1877 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... A civil war is a war in which the competing parties are segments of the same country or empire. ... The Peoples Party, Popular Party, or Populist Party, is any of several political parties claiming to speak for the people; see Populism. ... Populism is a political ideology or rhetorical style that holds that the common person is oppressed by the elite in society, and that the instruments of the State need to be grasped from this self-serving elite and used for the benefit and advancement of the people as a whole. ... A two-party system is a type of party system where only two political parties have a realistic chance of winning an election. ... In the United States, the Progressive Era was a period of reform that began in Americas urban regions from, approximately the 1890s and lasted through the 1920s, although some experts say it lasted from 1900 to 1920. ...

Fired by the valiant efforts of millions of farmers, exposes written by investigative journalists (the famous muckrakers), and correlations between special interests' abuses of farmers and special interests' abuses of urban workers, Progressives formed nationally connected citizen organizations to extend this democracy movement. From 1898 to 1918, the Progressives, supported by tens of millions of citizens, forced direct democracy petition components into the constitutions of twenty-six states (Cronin, 1989). Investigative journalism is a branch of journalism that usually concentrates on a very specific topic, and typically requires a lot of work to yield results. ... In American English, a muckraker is a journalist or an author who searches for and exposes scandals and abuses occurring in business and politics. ... Progressivism or political progressivism is any of several historically related political philosophies or political ideologies. ... Citizenship is membership in a political community (originally a city but now usually a state), and carries with it rights to political participation; a person having such membership is a citizen. ... 1898 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1918 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... A petition is a request to an authority, most commonly a government official or public entity. ...

The constitutional placement of direct democracy petition components was seen by those citizen majorities as necessary. Given the obvious corruption in state governments, the lack of sovereign public control over the output of state legislatures was seen as "the fundamental defect" in the nation's legislative machinery. Advocates insisted that the only way to make the founding fathers' vision work was to take the "misrepresentation" out of representative government with the sovereign people's direct legislation (Special Committee of the National Economic League, 1912).

On June 6, 1978 Proposition 13 (a ballot initiative) was enacted by the voters of the State of California. Its passage resulted in a cap on property tax rates in the state, reducing them by an average of 57%. Proposition 13 received an enormous amount of publicity, not only in California, but throughout the United States. Its passage presaged a "taxpayer revolt" throughout the country. June 6 is the 157th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (158th in leap years), with 208 days remaining. ... 1978 was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... Proposition 13 was a ballot initiative enacted by the voters of the state of California on June 6, 1978. ... In political science, the initiative (also known as popular or citizens initiative) provides a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote on a proposed statute, constitutional amendment, charter amendment or ordinance. ... State nickname: The Golden State Other U.S. States Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Official languages English Area 410,000 km² (3rd)  - Land 404,298 km²  - Water 20,047 km² (4. ... Property tax is an ad valorem tax that an owner of real estate or other property pays on the value of the thing taxed. ... A tax revolt is a political struggle to repeal, limit, or roll back a government-imposed tax. ...

Proposition 13 was officially titled the "People's Initiative to Limit Property Taxation." It passed with 65% of voters in favor and 35% against, with 70% of registered voters participating. It was placed on the ballot through the California initiative (or referendum) process under which a proposed law or constitutional amendment, termed a "proposition," is placed on the ballot once its backers gather a sufficient number of signatures on a petition. When passed, Proposition 13 became article 13A of the California state constitution. In political science, the initiative (also known as popular or citizens initiative) provides a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote on a proposed statute, constitutional amendment, charter amendment or ordinance. ... A referendum (plural: referendums or referenda) or plebiscite is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. ... A constitutional amendment is an alteration to the constitution of a nation or a state. ...

Initiative and referendum (I&R) citizen lawmaking spread across the United States because state legislatures were unresponsive in creating laws that the people needed to protect themselves from special interests, laissez-faire economics, and the era's Robber Barons (Cronin, 1989, and Schmidt, 1989, and Zimmerman, December 1999, and Waters, 2001). Additionally, while legislatures were quick to pass laws benefitting special interests, both legislatures and the courts were inflexible in their refusals to amend, repeal or adjudicate those laws in ways that would eliminate special interest advantages and end abuses of the majority (Cronin, 1989, Zimmerman, December 1999, and Waters, 2001). A special interest is a person or political organisation established to influence governmental policy or legislators in a specific area of policy. ... Laissez-faire is short for laissez faire, laissez passer, a French phrase meaning to let things alone, let them pass. First used by the eighteenth century Physiocrats as an injunction against government interference with trade, it is now used as a synonym for strict free market economics. ... The term robber baron dates back to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and originally referred to feudal lords of land through which the Rhine River in Europe passed who abused their position to stop passing merchant ships and demand tolls without being authorized to do so. ... This article is about courts of law. ...

That same special-interests-favoring lawmaking, unresponsiveness to the people, and inflexibility to amend or repeal laws abusive of the majority—continues to drive citizen lawmaking today (Schmidt, 1989, Zimmerman, December 1999, and Waters, 2001).

Court battles over the constitutionality of direct democracy, from the early 1900s to the late 1990s, have repeatedly established that the combination of sovereign citizen lawmaking and representative government is, in fact, an historically traditional republican form of government (Magleby, 1984, Natelson, 1999, and Zimmerman, December 1999). Events and Trends Technology Lawrence Hargrave makes the first stable wing design for a heavier-than-air aircraft Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first documented flight in a powered heavier-than-air aircraft Mass production of automobile Wide popularity of home phonograph Panama Canal is built by the United... Events and trends Technology The World Wide Web was born at CERN Explosive growth of the Internet; decrease in the cost of computers and other technology Reduction in size and cost of mobile phones leads to a massive surge in their popularity Year 2000 problem (commonly known as Y2K) Microsoft... In a broad definition a republic is a state or country that is led by people who do not base their political power on any principle beyond the control of the people living in that state or country. ...

In 1990, the civil society of Nevada—an I&R state—resolved to minimize the intense controversy raging around abortion. The Nevada legislature was under pressure from pro-life organizations to change the state's abortion law. The state's pro-choice organizations wanted the standing law, which conformed to Roe v. Wade, to be left as it was. The pro-choice organizations made use of a seldom-used feature in Nevada's I&R law. They petitioned for and passed a referendum on an existing state law. It was only the fifth time, since Nevada had gained citizen lawmaking in 1912, that the referendum on an existing state law had been used (Erickson, Questions On The Ballot (http://dmla.clan.lib.nv.us/docs/nsla/archives/political/question.htm)). Because of the constitutional provisions defining this particular referendum, approval of the state law meant that the legislature is barred from ever amending the law. Only the people can amend such a law in what is called the "see us first" referendum provision. 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Pro-life demonstrators at the March for Life in Washington, D.C. on January 22, 2002. ... Pro-Choice is the preferred self-description of people who believe that a woman should have the freedom to terminate a pregnancy by having an abortion if she does not want to have a baby. ... Holding Texas laws criminalizing abortion violated womens Fourteenth Amendment right to choose whether to continue a pregnancy. ... 1912 is a leap year starting on Monday. ...

This initiative process functioned as the safety valve it was designed to be. With an approving majority of over sixty percent, Nevada voters gave a degree of legitimacy to the standing law that no small number of legislators could ever invoke in such a visceral controversy. With the legislature legally taken out of the picture, and the referendum's large legitimacy recognized by both sides, the controversy quickly quieted. The legislature is free to refer proposed statutes or constitutional amendments relating to abortion to the people, but the people are now the decision-makers in this issue. The word legitimacy comes from the Latin word legitimare and it has two uses: Legitimacy (political science) is whether or not people accept the validity of a law or ruling or the validity of a governing regime. ...

Citizens in Nebraska, after gaining the constitutional amendment initiative in 1912, used it to reduce their bicameral legislature of 133 members to a unicameral legislature of 43 members in 1934. Effective with the Nebraska legislature's first nonpartisan, unicameral session in 1937, it reduced cost, waste, secrecy and time (no conference committee required), while at the same time making the legislature more efficient and more cooperative with the press and civil society. The success of combining direct democracy governance components with a unicameral legislature has stood the test of time (Nebraska Legislature Online, 2004, The History of Nebraska's Unicameral Legislature (http://www.unicam.state.ne.us/learning/history.htm)). State nickname: Cornhusker State Other U.S. States Capital Lincoln Largest city Omaha Governor Dave Heineman Official languages English Area 200,520 km² (16th)  - Land 199,099 km²  - Water 1,247 km² (0. ... In government, bicameralism is the practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers. ... Unicameralism is the practice of having only one legislative or parliamentary chamber. ... 1934 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1937 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Direct democracy governance components have contributed significantly to state-level policy and law. Schmidt (1989), Zimmermann (December 1999) and others contend that these contributions have been much more successful than most of direct democracy's critics admit.

See also

• History of democracy

Origins Ancient Greece Main article: Athenian democracy The word democracy was invented in Athens, Greece, to describe the revolutionary system of government used. ...

References

• Cronin, Thomas E. (1989). Direct Democracy: The Politics Of Initiative, Referendum, And Recall. Harvard University Press. Despite the author's bias against direct democracy, the book is a good read for the issues, personalities, and organizations in the Progressive period of the Reform Era.
• Erickson, Robert. Political History Of Nevada — Questions On The Ballot (http://dmla.clan.lib.nv.us/docs/nsla/archives/political/question.htm).
• Goodwyn, Lawrence (1976). Democratic Promise: The Populist Moment In America. Oxford University Press.
• Goodwyn, Lawrence (1978). The Populist Moment: A Short History Of The Agrarian Revolt In America — Abridged version of Professor Goodwyn's 1976 book. Oxford University Press.
• Magleby, David B. (1984). Direct Legislation: Voting On Ballot Propositions In The United States. Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Miller, Joshua I. (1991) The Rise And Fall Of Democracy In Early America, 1630--1789: The Legacy For Contemporary Politics Pennsylvania State University Press.
• Natelson, Robert G. (1999), Are Initiatives And Referenda Contrary To The Constitution's "Republican Form Of Government"?
• Nebraska Legislature Online (2004). The History of Nebraska's Unicameral Legislature (http://www.unicam.state.ne.us/learning/history.htm).
• Schmidt, David D. (1989). Citizen Lawmakers: The Ballot Initiative Revolution. Temple University Press.
• Waters, M. Dane (2001). The Battle Over Citizen Lawmaking. Carolina Academic Press.
• Willard, Joseph (1858). Willard Memoir; or Life And Times Of Major Simon Willard. Phillips, Sampson, And Company (Boston). Simon Willard was a co-founder of Concord, Massachusetts, in 1635. From the town's first winter, 1635-1636, its representative government used referenda to decide political issues.
• Zimmerman, Joseph F. (March 1999). The New England Town Meeting: Democracy In Action. Praeger Publishers.
• Zimmerman, Joseph F. (December 1999). The Initiative: Citizen Law-Making. Praeger Publishers.