People in Power Have No Reason to Change the System That Put Them There – Lessons from Progressive B

[Donnachaidh]

http://firedoglake.com/2010/12/12/people-in-power-have-no-reason-to-change-the-system-that-put-them-there-%E2%80%93-lessons-from-progressive-ballot-initiative-reformers-part-one/

For turn of the century Progressives, Populists and good government reformers, securing the right of direct democracy was often a top goal. Individuals such as Samuel Gompers, Robert La Follette, Theodore Roosevelt, and William Jennings Bryan all advocated for direct democracy through ballot initiatives and referendums. Because of efforts by Progressives, Populists, women’s suffrage advocates, Socialists, government reform advocates and organized labor, the right to direct democracy was secured in almost all Western states.

Why was the right to direct democracy so important to progressives at the turn of the century? Many of the groups had individual issues they thought had the best chance of becoming law if put directly to the voters. Important social reforms like child labor laws, worker compensation, the eight-hour work day, old age pensions, etc… were first passed in many states using ballot initiatives. But the reason progressive reformers considered the ballot initiative process so important was that it dealt with two fundamental truths about power. People in power often have no desire to change the status quo that put them in power, and people with power rarely are willing to give any of it up.

Progressives used the ballot initiative as one of their main tools to try to make politicians more honest, government less corrupt, democracy fairer, and party bosses less powerful. From the Citizen Lawmakers by David Schmidt:

Progressive and New Deal era reformers primarily succeeded in passing ballot Initiatives aimed at making government more honest, efficient, and responsive. Nationwide, voters in over a dozen states approved 58 Initiatives in the areas of political reform and governmental reorganization. Among these were Initiatives to establish nomination of candidates through primary elections (Ark., Maine, Mont., Oreg., S.D.); establishment of presidential primaries (Mont., Oreg.); <…> and permanent voter registration instead of requiring voters to re-register every election (Calif., Wash.).

More at the link --