The California Initiative Process

Californians had the opportunity to vote on 12 ballot measures in the November 2008 election. Voters passed 7 out of the 12 measures. Many are already looking forward to the 2010 election, as petitions for new initiatives are already circulating.

For more information on the California initiative process and how citizens participate in this form of direct democracy, take a look at the "Statewide Ballot Initiative Handbook" from the California Secretary of State for a brief overview on the statewide initiative process. For a more in-depth discussion, see "California's statewide initiative process" from the California Research Bureau (CRB).

For a history of California state ballot initiatives, see: "A history of California initiatives" (2002) from the California Secretary of State and "The initiative and referendum in California, 1898-1998" (2000) from Stanford University Press (requires OCA). To find the text of past ballot initiatives, search the "California Ballot Propositions (1911-present)" database from UC Hastings College of Law for state ballot propositions and these reports on the outcome of past County and Municipal initiatives from the California Secretary of State.

The California initiative process is the subject of research and discussion. The Public Policy Institute of California (a San Francisco based think tank) has produced a number of papers on the initiative process, such as "The California Initiative Process: Background and Perspective" (2000) and "The California Initiative Process-How Democratic Is It?" (2002). The PPIC recently released a survey of Californians' thoughts on the initiative process. You can find the results of that survey here. The Center for Governmental Studies (a Los Angeles based think tank) has also researched the initiative process and just recently released "Democracy by Initiative: Shaping California's Fourth Branch of Government, 2nd Edition".