O desastre da democracia direta na Califórnia
Autor: Fabiano Pegurier | Publicado: 2011-05-05T22:35:00-03:00

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O post anterior comenta a reforma constitucional efetuada pela Califórnia, em 1911, através da qual o eleitorado recebeu o poder de aprovar leis independentemente da assembleia estadual. 

Essa dose de democracia direta não produziu muito efeito na primeira metade do século XX. Até os anos 60, poucas leis, e não muito importantes, foram votadas diretamente pelo eleitorado da Califórnia. Mas as coisas mudaram a partir de 1978, com a aprovação da Proposição 13, uma reação dos eleitores ao forte aumento do imposto equivalente ao nosso IPTU, causado pela valorização imobiliária ocorrida em todo o estado. 

Essa proposição determinava uma redução imediata desse imposto - de 2,6% para 1% do valor estimado do imóvel - e, além disso, limitava o seu aumento no futuro. Com a sua aprovação, em 3/6/1978, cortou-se pela metade a receita dos municípios californianos, que passaram a depender de subsídios do estado para cobrir suas despesas com escolas, hospitais e aposentadorias. 

A partir de então, muitos grupos de interesse acordaram para a possibilidade de obter benefícios assegurados por lei, através da manipulação do eleitorado. O número de proposições colocadas em votação direta passou de 9 a 74, entre a década de 1960 e a de 2000. A coleta de assinaturas em apoio de novas proposições transformou-se numa indústria. Firmas especializadas nessa tarefa hoje pressionam eleitores encurralados em locais concorridos, que sem entender o que fazem assinam essas listas, depois vendidas ao grupo beneficiado. 

Ao longo desse processo, os candidatos à assembleia estadual passaram a depender das contribuições de patrocinadores interessados em obter benefícios fiscais do estado, a fim de financiarem campanhas eleitorais cada vez mais caras. É fácil, para os deputados eleitos, satisfazer esses patrocinadores, pois aprovar um favor fiscal exige maioria simples. Mas aumentar impostos, desde a Proposição 13, exige maioria de 2/3. 

Resultado: o estado está literalmente falido, sem perspectiva de solução por deliberação da assembleia. Enquanto isso, nos índices mais representativos de qualidade na educação, a Califórnia, o mais rico entre os 50 estados dos EUA, encontra-se entre a 42a e a 47a posição. O problema atingiu um ponto tal que várias mudanças na constituição estadual encontram-se em estudo, a fim de devolver ao legislativo estadual o poder de debater, modificar e substituir as leis aprovadas diretamente pelo eleitorado.