Ballot initiatives in 2022 and beyond

08/08/22 • 32 min

The first season of When the People Decide has officially ended, but we have a few bonus episodes for you that we’ll be sharing over the next few weeks. This first is a conversation with Kelly Hall, Executive Director of The Fairness Project.

We mentioned The Fairness Project briefly in episode 7. It is one of the organizations working to fight back against the war on the initiative. The Fairness Project also works with ballot initiative organizers across the country — Jenna Spinelle talked with Kelly about some of the issues they’re working on right now and some of the issues that could be heading to state and municipal ballots in the coming years.

As we alluded to in episode 8, there are some hot button issues in the ballot measure arena right now and Kelly is at the forefront of it all. She comes to the role of Executive Director with a fierce passion for progress and over 15 years of experience making change in government, with the labor movement, and through winning ballot measure campaigns.

Kelly was the architect of The Fairness Project’s work expanding Medicaid in six states (soon to be seven!) and her passion for health policy has meant expansion of healthcare to over 830,000 people. Kelly worked on Capitol Hill during the drafting and passage of the Affordable Care Act, and then served in President Obama’s administration helping to implement the law.

Previous Episode

For the many or the few?

Throughout the series, we’ve seen what can happen when major decisions are put to the will of the people. Initiatives are far from perfect, but will we miss them if they go away? This episode will explore whether ballot initiatives can withstand the challenges they’re up against, and some groups are looking to initiatives as a way to strengthen American democracy.

Our guests this week are two bold thinkers about the future of direct democracy. John Matsusaka is the director of USC’s Initiative and Referendum Institute; Chris Melody Fields Figureredo is the executive director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center. They've studied initiative outcomes and seen how they can work on the ground, and offer their thoughts on where we go from here.

This episode also covers comes of the common criticisms of ballot initiatives, which are important to consider in designing measures and campaigns that are truly democratic and serve the many, not the few. Or, as Figueredo put it, "love letters to our people."

Resources

For the Many or the Few? The Initiative, Public Policy, and American Democracy by John Matsusaka

Let the People Rule: How Direct Democracy Can Meet the Populist Challenge by John Matsusaka

Initiatives Without Engagement: A Realistic Appraisal of Direct Democracy's Secondary Effects by Joshua Dyck and Ted Lascher.

Next Episode

Introducing: Democracy Decoded

Why does American Democracy look the way it does today and how can we make it more responsive to the people it was formed to serve? Democracy Decoded, a podcast by Campaign Legal Center, examines our government and discusses innovative ideas that could lead to a stronger, more transparent, accountable and inclusive democracy.

This episode focuses on on a recent election n Maine, where one of the holes in our campaign finance laws allowed a foreign government to funnel enormous sums of money into a ballot measure election — completely legally. Host Simone Leeper speaks with Richard Bennett, a Republican state senator from Maine; Kyle Bailey, Campaign Manager for Protect Maine Elections and a former state representative; and AaRon McKean, legal counsel for state and local reform at Campaign Legal Center.

Resources

Protect Maine Elections