INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM
United States Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer
recently stated,
“The court should bear in mind the Constitution’s
overall objective, that of fostering “participatory, democratic
self-government.”
The
Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations, Inc. (FCTO) is encouraging
all citizens to promote Initiative and Referendum through their local Town
Charters. This allows citizens within a
community to draw up a Petition on an issue which they have a concern for, collect
the required number of signatures on the petition, and place the issue before
the voters of their community.
Every American subscribes to
the principle that in a democracy all people should enjoy political equality;
but some Town Charters deny its citizens this very fundamental liberty. In some towns, only the legislative body
enjoys the exclusive and unrestricted right to initiate
referendums. In other towns, the
Charter allows citizens to initiate petitions but only on matters relating to Town
Ordinances. Even then, once the
petition is submitted, the legislative body has the power to unilaterally,
without explanation, reject the petition.
The petition and referendum
issue is not a partisan political issue.
It is an American birthright that should be enjoyed by every citizen,
regardless of party affiliation.
Under our Constitution, we
are a representative government. Yet,
we would agree that the voters have never knowingly surrendered their right to
correct the irresponsible decisions of their elected officials. This can only accomplished if the people
have the power to initiate petitions and referendums. Just as we have expanded democracy and the rights of the people
nationally since the American War of Independence and the Constitutional
Convention of 1787, United States citizens must continue to promote a
government of, for and by the people.
Through Initiative and Referendum it is indeed we, the people, who will
have the influence over our elected officials.
It is disappointing that
many local politicians who profess their love and admiration of democracy
oppose sharing the democracy in initiative, petition, and referendum with their
neighbors. It is a power they arrogate
to themselves in their Town Charters.
They repeatedly demonstrate their opposition to citizen-initiated
petitions. Their reason is quite apparent--they do not wish to be subject to
oversight by the very people they are pledged to serve.
Citizen-initiated
referendums incur no special expense as they can be added to the ballot in the
spring or fall when town elections or budget referendums are held.
It is FCTO’s position that
all Charters within the 169 Towns throughout Connecticut must be amended so
that the people are legally and formally empowered with the full right of
petition and referendum.
In summary,
Theodore Roosevelt stated, “I
believe in the Initiative and Referendum
which should
be used not to destroy representative government but to correct it whenever it
becomes misrepresentative.”
************************************************************************
The following provides a
historical background on the issue of Initiative and Referendum: In our
Declaration of Independence, and later confirmed in Abraham Lincoln’s
“Gettysburg Address,” this country dedicated itself to the proposition that the
primary purpose of government is to secure and protect the life, liberty, and
happiness of all its citizens, and that the power of government and the
governors are always subject to the consent and will of the people.
From their personal
experience with autocratic colonial and imperial government, the Founders of
the nation established local, state and national governments with clearly
identified, limited and restricted powers.
It was their hope that a system of separation of powers and checks and
balances would curb arbitrary and dictatorial decisions by the people’s
governors. The patriots of the American
Revolution expected that their new governments would be protective of their
rights and liberties and responsive to their needs and wishes. Many Americans of that day, including
Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and Thomas
Paine, were strong supporters of the people’s right to petition and referendum
as a means for correcting bad or coercive decisions by elected officials. The question of how much democracy should be
given to the people has been an on-going debate since this country was founded. There was a time when only men of property
had the right to vote. It was through
people-initiated petitions and referendums that the political leadership
finally broadened the franchise to include women, native American Indians,
African-Americans, and Asian ethnics and expanded the political and economic
liberties of the people.
Despite his heroic role in
the struggle for independence, John Adams and the Federalist
administration believed that the
“common people” could not be trusted with the responsibilities of
self-government. He supported the passage
of Sedition Acts. These laws blatantly
violated the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights: “Congress shall make no law…abridging…the right of the people…to
petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Despite the First Amendment, people were imprisoned for
criticizing government officials or demonstrating against government
policies. Thomas Jefferson and James
Madison had to lead a people’s protest and a national referendum before this
subversion of the Constitution was repudiated.
Citizens have often shown a lack of courage in speaking out and
demanding that civil rights be respected and protected. Thomas Jefferson was correct in warning that
“eternal vigilance is the price of liberty” and that the potential for
“elective despotism” is always present.
Without the people’s access to universal petition and referendum,
however, that vigilance is powerless.
Relying on voting every two
years to bring about change is often a futile action, especially when so many
voters have become so disenchanted with the political process that very few
turn out to vote. Voting loses its
purpose and meaning when a community is dominated by one political party with
such an overwhelming party registration that it exercises complete control over
nominations and outcomes of elections.
Alexis de Tocqueville warned about this kind of political tyranny in
his book “Democracy in America.” In the 20th Century this was
called fascism. The power of
initiative is the citizens’ first and last resort in checking incompetence,
ignorance, or corruption in the civil political process.