Initiative Campaigns and The Power of Money by David S. Broder. According to David S. Broder, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and commentator for the Washington Post, this launched the resurgence of public initiative campaigns throughout the country. Initiatives were created by the Populists and Progressives at the turn of the century, eager to derail the power of railroad barons and root out government corruption. They have returned with a vengeance today, Broder writes, because of our deep distrust of legislatures, politicians and our form of government, which relies on our representatives to make and pass laws. Initiatives bypass the deliberative if clumsy procedures of legislatures, where compromise can often be reached.
Initiatives rely on simplistic slogans, distortions and half-truths.
But it gets worse. As everything in politics these days, or so it seems, initiatives have been taken over by special-interest groups with millions in their pockets. Taking a look at what issues are going to be most effective for and against it. Backers wanted unions to obtain annual written permission from each of their members for the use of dues for any political purpose, something that corporations are not required to obtain from their employees or shareholders. Gov. Pete Wilson, running for president, hopped on the bandwagon.