by Michael Chamberlain

Created on: November 24, 2008

When forming this nation our founding fathers created our country as a democratic republic. They did not intend for every person to have a say on every issue in every step of the governing process. They created a system where we elect officials that represent the majority of the governed people's ideas. These officials study and make informed decisions on the issues in their area. It hasn't been until recent history that people in our nation feel they need to have a direct vote on every issue affecting them. In the early 1900's states started passing laws that would allow citizens to overrule governing bodies and make the final decision in the form of referendums and initiatives. Referendums and initiatives end up costing large sums of money to the tax payers, elected official aren't allowed to do the job they were elected to do, and they are an ineffective method of letting the people have a voice in government.

The cost of referendums and initiatives is not worth the rare results that they produce. A small group of people can start a referendum or initiative. The city, county, or state then has the obligation of paying to prepare voter information pamphlets, mailing the information to voters, placing the issue on the ballot, and many other procedural requirements. These procedures can be very costly and time consuming. Small municipalities especially suffer when they are required to pay for and carry out the steps necessary to carry out a referendum or initiative. These procedures can take a great toll on the small municipalities' limited budget and staff. There will always be people who strongly believe in a referendum or initiative. They end up spending great deals of money on something that will most likely never pass. Public officials are elected by the people for a reason. They are put in place by popular vote to make the decisions facing the represented area. Part of their job requirement is to study the issues and the necessary background information needed to make an informed decision that would be the most beneficial to the people they represent. It would simply take too much time and money to have every person vote on every issue. Initiatives and referendums are taking the legislative process backwards. They are trying to control, overrule, and take away the job that the popular vote gave to the representatives. They have the knowledge to make the best decision for the majority of the people in the area. A majority elects the official, therefore

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>