About Direct Democracy

Three branches of government make up California's democratic system. These include the governor and other elected officials who make up the executive branch. The legislature, which has a two-house system, is the next branch. The Assembly is the first chamber, and the Senate is the second. The upper house of the parliament is made up of 40 senators, each of whom is limited to two terms of four years. The 80 counties in the state are represented by elected members of the assembly. Typically, a person can hold office for a maximum of three terms of two years. The judiciary is the last branch of the government. This is premised on the courts of law and the Supreme Court of California is the highest court within the state. The governor usually appoints the judges who preside over the cases at the courts but these appointments are often endorsed in the next general election.

The constitution of California provides for direct democracy and this is a system of governance that confers sovereign power to the citizens to make most of the determination on the issues that relate and affect them. Under this system, the citizens are allowed initiate various reform agendas and also are allowed to change the constitutional provisions through the laid down procedures that have been provided for. The citizens are also allowed to give their views concerning an existing law and also are allowed to make recommendations as to some of the statutes they would wish to have within the state. Direct democracy confers the power to the citizens to impeach any executive official of the state after a clear violation of some of the duties that they are supposed to undertake. This power does not extend to the elected representatives of the state. Direct democracy ensures that popular vote prevails and this, in essence, has the effect of suppressing the minority vote in a given setting.

Drafters of the constitution envisioned the possible mayhem that would have arisen in the event that the direct democracy was able to apply to the legislative representatives during their tenure in office. One of the obvious drawbacks that can be seen would be in relation to the delay in the making of laws that affect the state. The representatives would not have the power to undertake its affairs since they would have to seek the approval of the people before passing some of the basic statutes. The only time direct democracy applies in relation to the representatives is through their election. This is due to the fact that popular vote will guarantee a prospective candidate.

In 1910, Hiram Johnson who was a member of the California Progressive Party sought to vie for the position of governor. His trademark in the run-up to the elections was "Reestablish outright power to the general population that we may live in a free republic". In years preceding the race Californians started to see a pattern in their state government. Californians were not adequately represented by the then regime (Kesler). The gold rush had brought enormous measures of individuals into the state. This prompted extraordinary open doors for new business. The Southern Pacific Railroad among other enormous businesses invaded legislative issues and mismanagement of state resources was the order of the day. Officials passed laws which profited them. The Progressives looked to give the general population more prominent say in making and destroying statutes. This led to the eventual loss of power that was embodied in the constitution.

To finish their objective in 1911 they instituted some election initiatives with the aim for residents to sidestep assembly endorsement and have some safeguards put in the election. The safeguards ensured that in order for one to vie for an elective post they had to be endorsed by a requisite number of signatures from the people. The referendum is one of the things that was also instituted that gave power to the citizens to change the constitution.

This enabled the general public to vote in order to do away with various statutes by meeting a set threshold of people who supported the repealing of the legislative instrument. There were other amendments that were passed around 1911 and these were endorsed by the electorate through appending of their signatures (Initiative and Reform Institute).

Direct democracy has changed over time and the number of people that are required to endorse a given policy or statute has grown tremendously. Today, any Californian can compose a request that proposes another law. Presently it takes signatures of at least 900,000 for any initiative to be considered in a referendum. This requirement has led to the manifestation of unscrupulous business people who used money in order to source for the signatures that were required. These organizations gained popularity from the in World War I and made it substantially less demanding for subjects to get the threshold required to prompt referendums.

Democracy by initiative was one of the cultures that sprung out as a result of the signature buying venture. This culture was important since the initiatives become like the fourth arm of governance within California. The citizens now had de facto power similar to the ones in the other arms of government. Overtime California has experienced numerous initiatives that relate to the alteration of laws. In the initial three decades the initiatives that had been reported to have risen in a thirty-five high in every decade. At its least, nine initiatives were proposed amid the 1960's. From 1970 to today that number has expanded to forty-seven in every 10 years.

An example of an initiative happened on November 2, 2010, was Proposition 19, otherwise called the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010. This measure would: Permit individuals 21 years of age or more have in their possession, develop, or transport cannabis for individual consumption. The local authorities would have experts to direct and impose commercialization of marijuana to people who were over the age of 21 years. The initiative restricted individuals from having cannabis on school grounds, utilizing it in broad daylight, smoking it while minors are available, or giving it to anybody under 21 years of age. Current preclusions against driving while debilitated would be kept up.

Verifiably, California has been the pioneer state for changes in laws with respect to marijuana. In 1996, Californians passed Proposition 215 which permitted sufferers of crippling incessant ailments such AIDS and tumor to develop or get weed for therapeutic purposes with a specialist suggestion. At that point in 2003, Senate Bill 420 was passed and built up a state issued distinguishing proof card framework for marijuana patients.

The following dynamic stride for marijuana in California was proposed by Tom Ammiano, a Democrat representative of California's thirteenth State Assembly region. The Marijuana Control, Regulation, and Education Act went before the council in 2009. In 2010, the Assembly Public Safety Committee affirmed the bill on a 3 to 4 vote denoting the first run through a bill that would authorize marijuana passed an authoritative board. Nonetheless, it failed to reach the floor of the assembly.

In 2010 Richard Lee, proprietor of Oaksterdam, an effective marijuana college that also has two cafés, a medicinal cannabis dispensary, and a student union, drafted Prop.19 and spent $1.4 million to get the measure on the November 2 vote. He then rampaged to assemble the almost 700,000 signatures required to put the initiative in the referendum. He was met by a lot of support from campaigners and some committed volunteers. People who studied Sensible Drug Policy, an undergraduate association propelled to teach people in general about the war on drugs, attempted to get the message out. With 150 sections across the country, individuals campaigned heavily. Out of state campaigns even set up telephone banks for call qualified voters. Altogether the crusade accumulated around $5 million to bolster the activity.

Works Cited

"Carlifornia." initiative and Referendum Institute. University of Southern California, n.d.

"California Ballot Propositions-November 2nd 2010." California Choices, 2011.

Kesler, Charles R. "Direct Democracy in California." The Claremount Institute: For Studying

Statemenship and Political Philosophy, 2009.