New Forms of the Initiative and Referendum

There is no aspect of contemporary politics more significant than the remarkable growth and extension of the movement for direct legislation in America. While various phases of the referendum, such as advisory voting, the adoption of constitutions and their amendments and of local charters and laws have been of common use since the colonial period, the unrestricted use of the initiative and referendum whereby the people are given unlimited control of machinery for the enactment of constitutional and statutory law, is a very recent development. Prior to the last decade it was scarcely looked upon as a permanent feature of our governmental system. It smacked of Populism and found its supporters chiefly among certain faddists who sought by this means to secure, at least in a limited degree, the adoption of their political nostrums.But the problem of the referendum in America is no longer an academic one; for scarcely is there a state in the Union but must seriously consider the incorporation of this principle into its fundamental law. From its beginning in the single state of South Dakota, ten years has seen its spread through ten western commonwealths and the question of its adoption is now pending before the people in as many more states.