Proposition One


GRASSROOTS
CAMPAIGNS:

INITIATIVES
IN
GENERAL


Proposition One is a voter initiative, where a percentage of registered voters (usually 5% of the number who voted in the last election) sign a legal petition to place an issue on the ballot.

Initiatives are the electoral devices by which the wishes of the voters may be expressed with regard to government policy.

Given the inaction of elected officials, the only constitutional alternative left to the people is the "sovereign power" vested, by the Constitution, in the people. This power is manifest in the initiative process.

As President Woodrow Wilson put it, "In order to clean house the one thing we need is a good broom. Initiatives and referendums are good brooms."

Therefore, there is no impediment to making humane law -- with care toward correct wording of each initiative's text to insure that the initiative cannot be struck down by the courts for "stepping on the President's toes."

In 1993 Proposition One Committee used the initiative process to propose a solution to the mega-overkill problem, hoping to amend the Constitution.


On Constitutional Law

International Plan Next Page

Text of Proposition One Previous Page

Proposition One Home Page

Contents