Vincent MICHELOT - The Initative Procedure in Californie : a Democratic Distorsion ?

Pouvoirs n°133 - La Californie - avril 2010 - p.57-68

The initiative procedure in California, which was originally the cornerstone of the Progressive direct-democracy agenda at the very beginning of the 20th century, has become, with the rise of a conservative electoral majority at the end of the 1970s, the institutional choice weapon of the conservative movement. Indeed, by developing polarizing themes in accordance with an electoral strategy of getting out the conservative vote rather than conquering the center, by attacking directly the legitimacy of judicial power, and by giving Republicans the ability to circumvent the Democratic majority in the California legislature, the initiative fulfills all the goals of the conservative movement except for one : long-term governance of the largest state of the Union. Résumé

Référence électonique : Vincent MICHELOT, "The Initative Procedure in Californie : a Democratic Distorsion ?", Pouvoirs, revue française d’études constitutionnelles et politiques, n°133, 2010, p.57-68. Consulté le 02-06-2012. URL : http://www.revue-pouvoirs.fr/The-Initative-Procedure-in.html