Initiative: Good Idea (Essay Sample)

Name University Course Tutor Date Initiative: Good Idea Background This paper is going to argue that initiative is a good idea. In political science, the term initiative refers to a process that gives citizens the power to bypass state legislature by putting proposed laws, and in some jurisdiction, constitutional amendments on the ballot paper. The first state in the U.S to use citizen initiative in 1898 was South Dakota. Twenty-three other states have adopted the initiative process, and included it in the constitution (National Conference of State Legislatures para. 1). The last state to adopt the initiative process of Mississippi in 1992 and this brought the total number of states with initiative process to 24. There are two categories of initiative process i.e. indirect and direct initiative. In direct initiative, proposal that pass the requirement are sent straight to the ballot box. On the other hand, in indirect initiative, proposals are first submitted to the legislature (National Conference of State Legislatures para. 1). The legislature may choose to act on the proposal or ignore it. In the event the legislature ignores a proposal, it is sent to the ballot. In indirect initiative, the legislature can also submit an alternative proposal to compete with the one submitted by citizens, and both appear on the ballot paper. States that have adopted indirect initiative process include Ohio, Nevada, Mississippi, Michigan, Massachusetts, and Maine (National Conference of State Legislatures para. 2). In other states like Utah and the District of Columbia, proponents of citizen initiatives have the discretion of selecting whether to use indirect or direct method. Every state has a different requirement for citizen initiatives to qualify for the ballot. However, all states generally follow a similar process when qualify citizen proposal for ballot (National Conference of State Legislatures para. 2). The first step is filing the proposed petition with the relevant officials in the state. The second step is to review the petition in order to determine whether it conforms to the stipulated statutory requirements; most states also require the reviewing of the language of the proposal. The third step is to prepare the ballot title and summary (National Conference of State Legislatures para. 3). The fourth step is circulating the petition while collecting signatures from registered voters and the signature are supposed to be equivalent to a certain percentage of the total votes that were cast in the last statewide election (National Conference of State Legislatures para. 3). The last step is submitting the petition to state election officials, who are then required to verify the number of signatures collected. If petitioners succeed in collecting the required amount of valid signatures, the proposal is sent straight to the ballot box in direct initiative; in the indirect initiative the proposal is sent to the legislature. Once an initiative has been placed in the ballot, the general rule for it to pass is a majority vote. States that do not follow this rule include Mississippi, Massachusetts, and Nebraska (National Conference of State Legislatures para. 4). Once an initiative appears on the ballot, it is referred to as a referendum. There are two types of referenda, which are popular referenda and legislative referenda. Legislative referenda occur when the legislature subjects an issue to popular vote for an approval. Popular referenda on the other hand refer to issues that appear on the ballot as a result of petitions from citizens. Popular referenda are similar to initiative (National Conference of State Legislatures para. 5). Initiative Is a Good Idea Political scientists have argued that the existence of initiative mechanism within a state acts as a check on the legislature. This is because legislatures in states with initiative mechanisms are more likely to come up with some reform measures due to the fact that if the legislature fails, citizens will launch initiatives (Smith and Tolbert 52). A study conducted in the U.S found that states that had initiative measures in place were more likely than their counterparts without initiative measures to come up with governance reform policies like campaign finance, control and term limits. Hence, initiative process is a good idea because it makes legislatures responsive to the needs of citizens. Initiatives are a good idea because they provide the means of enacting reforms that the legislature is unwilling to enact (Francis, Grimshaw and Standish 46). Initiative process improves the performance of legislatures and makes them more accountable to the people. For instance, having a controversial initiative on the ballot paper is more likely to increase citizen participation in terms of a high voter turn out. Initiatives can boost citizen’s interest in state affairs and encourage them to participate in the political process (Cronin 28). Maija Setala and Theo Schiller are two scholars that have provided an insightful examination of citizen initiative in eleven European countries. These two scholars focused their study on institutions that enable citizens to come up with new political proposals and oppose legislations enacted by parliament (Setälä and Schiller 65). Maija Setala and Theo Schiller divided initiatives in European countries into two i.e. full scale initiatives, which refer to initiatives that are succeeded by a referendum and agenda initiatives that refer to initiatives that are handled by a representative body. The researchers also analyzed the variation of initiatives in terms of their impact, procedural requirements, legal framework, and the strength of civil societies in different European countries (Setälä and Schiller 66). Researcher found that citizen initiatives were generally effective but the main obstacles they faced included procedural requirements like signatures, admissible subject matter and approval quorum. One of the benefits of initiative identified by Maija Setala and Theo Schiller is that it gives equal rights to citizens to raise political issues and increases the opportunity for all citizens to take part in public affairs (Setälä and Schiller 68). Maija Setala and Theo Schiller stated that citizen initiative were mostly successful in Switzerland. Citizen initiative was used for the first time in Switzerland in 1891; and current petitioners in Switzerland are given 18 months to collect the required 100,000 signatures, which is a representation of about 2 percent of the total population (Setälä and Schiller 70). In 2010, there were 281 initiatives that were submitted to the parliament in Switzerland, and 174 qualified for popular vote while 18 were passed and accepted. Scholars have noted that the number of proposed initiative in Switzerland are highly partly because the country embraces direct democracy, and initiatives provides citizens with mechanism of checking political elites and political parties. Initiatives help expand the political arena and prevent complete monopolization of political agenda by a small group of political actors (Setälä and Schiller 72). The benefits of initiative as a tool for political action have made the European Union to introduce the European Citizen Initiative (ECI) that was enacted by the European Commission in 2012. The ECI is an effort that is meant to invite the European Commission to come up with legislations on issues that it has a right to legislate (Setälä and Schiller 74). Citizen initiatives within the EU context have to be supported by at least one million citizens of the European Union, and these citizens should come from at least seven member states from the total 27 states that make up the European Union. Supporter of the European Citizens Initiative have praised it and termed it a move towards direct democracy in Europe, and a means of compensating for democratic deficits that exists within the EU decision making organs (Setälä and Schiller 76). On the contrary, critics of the ECI have cautioned that the strict procedural requirements means that the initiative is less likely to bring widespread citizen participation, and may end up being an instrument in the hands of large non-governmental organizations, lobbyist and consultation firms (Setälä and Schiller 80). It is evident that initiative is a good idea because it enhances citizen participation in political processes, check the legislature, and make politicians accountable and responsive to the needs of citizens (Setä...