Email RIS file
Bookmark
Report an Issue

For the many or the few : the initiative, public policy, and American democracy / John G. Matsusaka

Author
Matsusaka, John G.
Published
Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2004.
Physical Description
1 online resource (xii, 201 pages) : illustrations, maps
Access Online

Availability

I Want It
I Want It

Finding items...

Series
Language Note
English.
Contents
An American institution -- A blizzard of data -- Spending and taxes, 1970-2000 -- For the many or the few -- Conservative or liberal -- When legislators get out of step -- Key episodes in the twentieth century -- Majority tyranny and the constitution -- Delegation, information, and competition.
Summary
"Direct democracy is alive and well in the United States. Citizens are increasingly using initiatives and referendums to take the law into their own hands, overriding their elected officials to set tax, expenditure, and social policies. John G. Matsusaka's For the Many or the Few provides the first even-handed and historically based treatment of the subject. Drawing upon a century of evidence, Matsusaka argues against the popular belief that initiative measures are influenced by wealthy special interest groups that neglect the majority view. Examining demographic, political, and opinion data, he demonstrates how the initiative process brings about systematic changes in tax and expenditure policies of state and local governments that are generally supported by the citizens. He concludes that, by and large, direct democracy in the form of the initiative process works for the benefit of the many rather than the few. An unprecedented, comprehensive look at the historical, empirical, and theoretical components of how initiatives function within our representative democracy to increase political competition while avoiding the tyranny of the majority, For the Many or the Few is a most timely and definitive work."--Electronic Library
Subject(s)
ISBN
9780226510873 (electronic bk.)
0226510875 (electronic bk.)
9780226510811 (cloth ; alk. paper)
0226510816 (cloth ; alk. paper)
1281965928
9781281965929
9786611965921
6611965920
Digital File Characteristics
text file
Bibliography Note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 187-194) and index.
View MARC record | catkey: 43166326