Functions of the Initiative, Referendum and Recall

• Author: Jonathan Bourne
• Published date: 01 September 1912
• Date: 01 September 1912
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/000271621204300102
• Subject Matter: Articles

(3)

FUNCTIONS

OF

THE

INITIATIVE,

REFERENDUM

AND

RECALL

BY

JONATHAN

BOURNE,

JR.,

United

States

Senator

from

Oregon.

Briefly

summarized,

the

functions

of

the

initiative

and

referen-

dum

are:

To

restore

the

sovereignty

of

the

people.

To

educate

and

develop

the

people.

To

secure

legislation

for

the

general

welfare.

To

prevent

legislation

against

the

general

welfare.

To

eliminate

the

legislative

blackmailer.

To

make

our

legislative

bodies

truly

representative.

I

will

discuss

each

of

these

in

the

order

mentioned.

The

chief

function

of

the

initiative

and

referendum

is

to

restore

the

absolute

sovereignty

of

the

people-to

make

this

in fact

as

well

as

in

name,

a

government

of,

for

and

by

the

people.

The

word

&dquo;sovereignty&dquo;

conveys

the

idea

of

supreme

rulership

and

we

have

taken

pride

in

flattering

ourselves

that

the

American

people

enjoy

the

power

of

self-government.

And

so

they

do,

in

theory,

but

I

shall

undertake

to

demonstrate

that

they

do

not

in

practice,

except

in

the

few

rare

instances

when,

after

suffering

a

long

series

of

abuses,

they

arise,

assert

their

rights

and

temporarily

overthrow

their

political

dictators.

The

citizens

of

every

state

have

seen

legislature

after

legislature

enact

laws

for

the

special

advantage

of

a

few

and

refuse

to

enact

laws

for

the

welfare

of

the

many.

Under

the

convention

system

of

nominations,

which

has

been

universal

until

the

last

few

years,

slates

of

delegates

were

selected

by

men

who

commercialized

politics,

and

the

great

masses

of

the

people,

unacquainted

with

political

manipulation

or

too

honest

to

resort

to

it,

had

no

recourse

but

to

ratify

the

slate.

These

specially

selected

delegates

nominated

candidates

for

legislative,

judicial

and

executive

ofhces

in

accord-

ance

with

the

desire

of

the

boss.

The

same

methods

having

been

pursued

in

each

political

party,

the

voter

was

given

a

choice

between

two

sets

of

candidates

each

under

obligations

to,

and,

therefore,

responsible

to,

the

manager

of

the

party

machine.

Under

this

system,