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Joshua J. Dyck

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    Voting

    More ballot initiatives won’t make Americans feel better about politics

    Joshua J. Dyck
    Edward L. Lascher, Jr.
    September 26, 2019
    More ballot initiatives won’t make Americans feel better about politics

    As Americans watch the Brexit turmoil, they should remember how it began as the result of a ballot initiative, the author notes.

    Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

    On Friday we will publish a countervailing view: "Ballot initiatives are voters' best tactic, so use them."

    Dyck is an associate professor of Political Science and director of the Center for Public Opinion at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Lascher is professor and chairman at the Department of Public Policy and Administration at California State University, Sacramento.

    As Americans watch the Brexit-related political turmoil in the United Kingdom, it is important to remember that the chaos there began in a form of direct democracy. When U.K. voters set in motion their exit from the European Union, they did so by voting directly on the so-called "Brexit" initiative.

    Normally, such major policy would have been initiated, deliberated and voted on by their elected officials in Parliament.

    The Brexit mess is an example of the disruptive potential of direct democracy, a practice that Americans have long believed leads to a healthier democratic society.

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