annotated biblio 2.0

Baldassare, Mark. A California State of Mind. Berkley: University of California Press, 2002.

The author discusses initiatives in general and specific terms with regard to the 2000 elections.

———. "PPIC Statewide Survey: Special Survey on Californians and the Initiative Process." Public Policy Institute of California. October 2005

Baldassare uses a survey to assess the dominant policy issues in California and how the institution of ballot intiatives affects policy and voter concern over these issues.

Boehmke, Frederick J. "The Effect of Direct Democracy on the Size and Diversity of State Interest Group Populations."The Journal of Politics 64, no. 3 (2002): 827-44.

Boehmke proves that Interest groups that represent citizens as opposed to economic interests are more likely to have success with their ballot intitiatives.

———. "Sources of Variation in the Frequency of Statewide Initiatives: The Role of Interest Group Populations." Political Research Quarterly 58, no. 4 (2005): 565-75.

Boehmke finds that states with ballot initiatives have more interest groups. In particular, if there are a lot of interest groups that represent interest groups, there are less inititiaves passed, whereas interest groups that represent citizens without economic interests utilize the initiatve process more often.

Bowler, Shaun and Robert Hannamen. " Just How Pluralist Is Direct Democracy? The Structure of Interest Group Participation in Ballot Proposition Elections" Political Research Quarterly
59 No. 4 (2006): 557-568. Accessed October 25, 2007.


Bowler and Hanneman look at the donors behind initiative campaigns and describe the campaign for an inititave in terms of the coalitions formed bewteen groups and the role played by large donors as well as powerful groups such as the teacher's unions and constuction industry.

Cahn, Matthew Alan, H. Eric Schockman and David M. Shafie. Rethinking California: Politics and Policy in the Golden State. New Jersey: Prentice Hallo, 2000.

These authors describe the initiative process and include a table that lists initiatives and referenda in California by subject and by decade.

DeBow, Ken and John C. Syer. Power and Politics in California. New York: Pearson Longman, 2006.

This book explains basic elements of the California political system and gives an overview of how initiatives have become the primary way of passing laws in California.

Gerber, Elisabeth R. "Legislatures, Initiatives, and Representation: The Effects of State Legislative Institutions on Policy."Political Research Quarterly 49, no. 2 (1996): 263-86.

Gerber discovers that the type of policies passed on the state level vary with regard to which intsitution was used to create them, i.e. the legislature or the ballot initiative.


———. "Interest Group Influence in the California Initiative Process." November 1998, 34 pp.

According to Gerber, citizen-based interest groups are more adept at acheiving their goals through the ballot intitiate process and economic interest groups are more successful when they use their resources to fight initiative proposed by citizen interest groups.



Gerber, Elisabeth R., and Justin H. Phillips. "Development Ballot Measures, Interest Group Endorsements, and the Political Geography of Growth Preferences."; American Journal of Political Science 47, no. 4 (2003): 625-39.

Gerber and Philips find that local development decisions made by voters appear to be strongly influenced by interest group participation as opposed to other practicalites or implications of the proposed policy.

Gerston, Larry N. and Terry Christensen. Recall! California’s Political Earthquake. New York: M. E. Sharpe, 2004.

This book explained how business interests supported Arnold Schwarzenegger’s campaign for governor.

Janiskee, Brian P. and Ken Masugi. Democracy in California. New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 2004.

This book discusses the ways in which California interest groups take action to influence policy. The authors discuss the five main areas of interest group politics and they also talk about how factions are good for democracy from a Madisonian perspective.

Price, Charles M. "The Initiative: A Comparative State Analysis and Reassessment of a Western Phenomenon." The Western Political Quarterly 28, no. 2 (1975): 243-62.

Price studies how initiaves proivde a needed alternative to the state policy making process.

Silva, J. Fred. "The California Initative Process: Background and Perspective." November 2000, 42 pp.
Resource Material for The Speaker's Commission on The California Initiative Process. November 2000.

History of initiatives in California as well as suggested reforms.