About the Blog

I shall post videos, graphs, news stories, and other material. We shall use some of this material in class, and you may review the rest at your convenience. I encourage you to use the blog in these ways:

--To post questions or comments about the readings before we discuss them in class;
--To follow up on class discussions with additional comments or questions.
--To post relevant news items or videos.

There are only two major limitations: no coarse language, and no derogatory comments about people at the Claremont Colleges. This blog is on the open Internet, so post nothing that you would not want a potential employer to see.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Direct Democracy in California & Unintended Consequences

Last night Dan Walters, a leading political columnist at the Sacramento Bee, discussed the question: "Is California ungovernable?"


His talk serves as an important reminder that unintended consequences can grow to define a state's political and economic turmoil. Dan Walters' argues that California suffers from a structural disorder. Policymakers are unable to improve the state, because their powers are limited due to the initiative and referendum process. Too much democracy also does not ensure that legislators are fully accountable for their actions.



California Democrats claim that the initiative process in California has turned public policy-making into an industry that requires enormous amounts of money to place an initiative on the ballot, thus catering to the few big players who do have the means to pass a law.



"Last weekend, the state Democratic executive board made it official, declaring that "the initiative process is being abused by the use of misleading titles and advertisements by unscrupulous signature-gathering companies, hired signature collectors, and concealed sponsors to create laws and programs that benefit a very few people at the expense of the many."



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