The Wisconsin Plan for the Initiative and Referendum
| DOI | 10.1177/000271621204300111 |
| Date | 01 September 1912 |
| Author | S. Gale Lowrie |
| Published date | 01 September 1912 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
(179)
THE
WISCONSIN
PLAN
FOR
THE
INITIATIVE
AND
REFERENDUM
BY
S.
GALE
LOWRIE,
PH.D.,
Of
the
Wisconsin
State
Board
of
Public
Affairs.
The
history
of
American
political
institutions
shows
no
more
remarkable
development
than
the
extension
of
the
movement
for
direct
legislation.
The
close
of
the
nineteenth
century
saw
but
one
state
whose
basic
law
provided
means
of
statutory
enactment
or
even
of
constitutional
amendment
by
direct
vote
of
the
people.
The
referendum
was
looked
upon
as
a
foreign
institution
and
reports
of
its
operation
in
Switzerland
suggested
its
infrequent
use,
and
then
with
no
flattering
results.
Public
opinion
since
then
has
moved
apace.
Scarcely
a
year
has
passed
without
marking
the
accession
of
some
state
to
the
referendum
list
until
nearly
half
of
our
common-
wealths
have
accepted
this
method
of
state-wide
legislation
or
have
started
proceedings
to
amend
their
constitutions
to
bring
about
this
end.
Hardly
a
fourth
of
our
states
remain
among
those
denying
its
use
even
to
cities
and
other
minor
civic divisions.
No
longer
may
the
initiative
and
referendum
be
regarded
as
fads,
they
are
burning
political
issues
and
have
already
come
to
exert
no
inconsiderable
influence
in
even
our
national
campaigns.
The
closest
students
of
our
political
institutions
recognize
in
them
elements
of
strength,
and
attention
is
now
being
directed
toward
their
better
development
that
they
may
form
national
components
of
our
political
organization.
The
causes
which
have
given
rise
to
this
extraordinary
movement,
involving
fundamental
changes
in
our
plan
of
government,
merit
consideration.
They
are
based
upon
a
distrust
of
the
legislature
as
an
institution
for
the
enactment
of
statute
law.
That
our
representa-
tive
bodies
have
proved
weak
instruments
for
the
work
for
which
they
were
designed,
is
not
questioned.
The
plan
upon
which
they
have
been
organized
seems
admirable-that
the
people’s
representa-
tives
should
gather
each
year
or
two
and
make
such
laws
as
in
their
judgment
the
condition
of
the
state
demands.
Coming
from
all
portions
of
the
state
and
from
diverse
walks
in
life,
they
might
be
presumed
to
know
the
actual
needs
of
the
state
and
to
be
in
a
position
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