Monday, March 3, 2008

Initiative and Referendum

In his address to the 1912 Ohio constitutional convention Theodore Roosevelt told delegates, "the initiative and referendum should be used, not as substitutes for representative government, but as methods of making such government really representative. Action by the initiative or referendum ought not to be the normal way of legislation; but the power to take it should be provided in the constitution, so that if the representatives fail truly to represent the people on some matter of sufficient importance to rouse popular interest, then the people shall have in their hands the facilities to make good the failure."

I think most Alabamians would say that our legislature has failed to represent us on numerous matters.

Would you like to comment on this? Is is a certainly that we cannot trust our legislature in its present makeup to put the will of the people over their own self interest.

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