PRESERVING REPUBLICAN GOVERNANCE: AN ESSENTIAL GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONS EXCEPTION TO DIRECT DEMOCRATIC MEASURES
In: William & Mary Law Review, Jg. 52 (2010-12-01), S. 997
academicJournal
Zugriff:
Introduction James Madison, writing in Federalist No. 10, observed the difference between a republic and a pure democracy. 1 Whereas a republic consists of a scheme of representative governance utilizing a deliberative process to legislate, a pure democracy gives legislative power directly to the public. 2 The Constitution embraces representative governance at the federal level 3 and also guarantees it to the states. 4 Yet with the increased prevalence of direct democratic measures, such as ballot initiatives and referendums, the structural lines between a republican government and a direct democratic government are being blurred, producing both structural and pragmatic consequences for state governments. The most telling examples of these consequences occur in California. The state has recently endured difficult fiscal times, including a $ 42 billion budgetary shortfall for the 2009-2010 fiscal year, the worst bond rating of any state in the nation, and an unemployment rate hovering around 11 percent. 5 California voters overwhelmingly rejected ballot measures seeking to ease the budgetary gap between spending and revenue, 6 which forced the legislature to make significant funding cuts for social programs and education. 7 The state even went so far as to enact budgetary cuts to the prison system-a reduction that could provide approximately 16,000 convicted felons with an early release date. 8 The Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, Ronald M. George, recently linked California's budgetary and governance problems to its constitutional structure. 9 In particular, Chief Justice George pointed out that "California's lawmakers, and the ...
Titel: |
PRESERVING REPUBLICAN GOVERNANCE: AN ESSENTIAL GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONS EXCEPTION TO DIRECT DEMOCRATIC MEASURES
|
---|---|
Autor/in / Beteiligte Person: | Leinen, William R. |
Zeitschrift: | William & Mary Law Review, Jg. 52 (2010-12-01), S. 997 |
Veröffentlichung: | 2010 |
Medientyp: | academicJournal |
Schlagwort: |
|
Sonstiges: |
|