Direct Democracy is as American as Apple Pie Those opposed to people making and unmaking laws through the initiative and referendum are fond of saying direct democracy has no history in America's system of representative democracy. This just isn't true.
Posted: 2008-09-04
Category: Legal
1913 Court Decisions Still Haunt the Oregon Initiative Obviously-flawed declatations of the 1913 Oregon Supreme Court still prevent the initiative from operating like it should. Only by correcting those mistakes can direct democracy work smoothly.
Posted: 2008-09-03
Category: Legal
The Forgotten Reformer Turn-of-last-century Oregon City lawyer W.S. U'Ren sought to bring communism to Oregon. That effort failed, but as a by-product, America took a giant step toward really being a government of, by and for the people.
Posted: 2008-09-03
Category: Legal
Government by Auction In the late 1800s, as more and more money gathered in fewer and fewer pockets, the Free-Marketplace of ideas became the Convenience-store of Accumulation. Seats in the federal senate formed the pinnacle of this political aggregation.
Posted: 2008-09-02
Category: Legal
Hardly Representative Government The original federal government barely deserved to be called representative. Only the House of Representatives was elected directly by the people.
Posted: 2008-09-02
Category: Politics
Popular Rule - Oregon's Gift to America America did not have many templetes to follow when establishing a government by, or even for, the people. The original federal government insulated itself from the people, and, it took a revolt of the states, led by Oregon, to reign it in.
Posted: 2008-08-31
Category: Politics
American democracy developed on the state, not federal, level Most people are surprised to hear that the right to vote is not guaranteed by the federal constitution. Not until the turn of last century did the federal government concern itself with the niceties of democracy.
Posted: 2008-08-31
Category: Legal
The Forgotten Revolution True popular rule came to this country only after the citizens of Oregon forced the state legislature to approve a system of direct legislation. In 1913, a packed Oregon Supreme Court ignored the law and issued a series of biased rulings aimed at stopping the populist revolution being led by Oregon City lawyer William S. U'Ren.