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Voter Initiatives in Education

Bilingual education policy is governed chiefly at the state level through the legislative and regulatory processes of state government. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a highly orchestrated effort was made to eliminate bilingual education through the use of voter initiatives as an alternative mechanism to legislation. The initiative process consists of citizens collecting signatures on petitions to place questions, statutes, or constitutional amendments on the ballot for citizens to adopt or reject. Voters vote for or against the proposition. Although voter initiative processes vary somewhat from state to state, it is generally the case that these measures become law once they have been approved by voters. This entry discusses the history of the initiative process; its historical use in the U.S. representative democracy; its use in shaping public policy; and its implications, to date, for bilingual education.

Voter Initiatives in History

The initiative process has its roots in Ancient Rome and Greece. Citizen lawmaking began about 449 bc in ancient Rome and lasted for approximately 400 years, to the death of Julius Caesar in 44 bc. The ancient Greeks made the most extensive use of what is sometimes referred to as “direct democracy” during the period 600 bc to 400 bc. Today, representative democracy is more common and better understood than direct democracy. In the Athenian model, people did not elect representatives to vote on their behalf, but voted on legislation directly. Participation was not open to all, especially to slaves or other subjugated groups.

Perhaps the strongest example of the initiative process in modern history is Switzerland. Citizen law-making began in Swiss towns in the 13th century. In the Swiss model, “double majorities” are required on constitutional matters: Both the majority of people and the majority of states, cantons in the case of Switzerland, must approve an initiative. At the local level, a simple majority of the voters is sufficient. The Swiss copied the double-majority concept from the U.S. Congress, in which House votes were to represent the people and Senate votes were to represent the states. Today, this is a distinction that is not always adhered to faithfully because of the increased reliance on partisan, party-line voting. Alexander Trechsel has noted that observers tend to view the Swiss political system as an oddity, although it may become an important element in the European Union integration.

Voter Initiative Usage in the United States

The voter initiative process has existed in some form in the United States since the 1600s, when citizens in New England placed ordinances and other concerns on agendas for discussion and voting in town meetings. Many of the framers of the U.S. Constitution, however, were opposed to direct democracy because of the danger they saw in majorities forcing their will on minorities. They advocated for a representative democracy in the form of a constitutional republic and elected representation to make and amend laws. Richard Ellis adds that supermajority requirements, such as requiring two-thirds majority or including a bicameral legislature in the political system, not only protects the minority from the majority but also saves the majority from itself. It also requires that open discussion and airing of differences take place, followed by negotiation of any remaining differences between the two houses. The voter initiative process, on the other hand, can be implemented quietly and without a healthy airing of relevant issues. According to David Broder, who has studied the topic in depth, the voter initiative process has evolved into a tool for “derailing democracy” because well-financed efforts to enact initiatives can be used by careless majorities to trample the rights of minorities.

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