Educated by Initiative: The Effects of Direct Democracy on Citizens and Political Organizations in the American States

Abstract

Educated by Initiative: The Effects of Direct Democracy on Citizens and Political Organizations in the American States. By Daniel A. Smith and Caroline J. Tolbert. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 2004. 252p. 22.95 paper.Throughout the mid-1980s, empirical state-level initiative studies were sufficiently rare that David Magleby's now classic book (Direct Legislation: Voting on Ballot Propositions in the United States, 1984) addressed topics as varied as the status of direct democracy laws, the impact of various cues on voting choices, and the readability of ballot pamphlets. Research on the initiative process subsequently burgeoned, and direct democracy has become one of the most widely considered aspects of state politics. Quantitative studies have focused especially on the substantive impact of the initiative process on public policy, as well as on the extent to which campaign contributions influence electoral outcomes.