Ballot initiatives have reshaped the lives of California citizens for almost 100 years, yet the initiative process itself has become outmoded, inflexible, confusing, complex, difficult for citizens to use and excessively dominated by money, concludes a new report, Democracy by Initiative: Shaping California’s Fourth Branch of Government.

You can download the complete book or individual chapters:

Complete Book - (2 MB) (includes click-able Table of Contents)

Executive Summary

Chapter 1 - Origins and History

Chapter 2 - Impact of Ballot Initiatives

Chapter 3 - Drafting and Amendability

Chapter 4 - Circulation and Qualification

Chapter 5 - Constitutional Revisions

Chapter 6 - Voter Information

Chapter 7 - Media Coverage

Chapter 8 - Influence of Money

Chapter 9 - Judicial Review

Chapter 10 - Enacting Recommendations

Appendices A—F - Checklist of Recommendations

If you would like to receive a hard copy of the book or an Executive Summary, please contact Victoria Martinez at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , or 310.470.6590 x130.