This paper explores the connection between the initiative process - the most potent form of direct democracy - and social issues by examining laws on seven social issues in all 50 American states. Initiative states are 18 percent more likely than noninitiative states to choose a conservative...

Many political practitioners believe that voters are more likely to approve propositions listed at the top than the bottom of the ballot, and this belief influences election laws across the country. A large body of research has shown that ballot structure matters for candidate elections,...

In the public sector, employment may be inefficiently high because of patronage, and wages may be inefficiently high because of the strength of public employee interest groups. This paper explores whether the initiative process, a direct democracy institution of growing importance, can control...