This Giving Tuesday, help ensure voters have the information they need to make confident, informed decisions. Donate now!

On the Ballot Episode 160 Citizen Initiatives giving power to the people

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
OTB Main Logo 2.png

On The Ballot is a podcast presented by Ballotpedia that connects people to politics.

Each week, Ballotpedia's election experts will unpack the week's top political stories. Ballotpedia's here to give you the facts, so you can form your own opinion. Stream On the Ballot on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Stream On The Ballot: SpotifyButton.png AppleMusicButton.png YouTubeButton.png MoreButton.png

Previous episodeNext episode


Episode #160

Citizen Initiatives: The history of giving power to the people

On this episode: If you live in one of the 26 states where citizens can put laws directly on the ballot, you’ve probably seen ballot measures pop up during elections—deciding everything from property taxes and abortion rights to marijuana legalization and ranked-choice voting. But have you ever wondered where this process came from? Or how it became such a powerful — and sometimes controversial — tool in American politics?

The initiative process has its roots in a time of upheaval, over a century ago, when the balance of power in the U.S. was shifting in dramatic ways. Big business was booming, railroads and corporations were gaining immense influence, and many Americans felt that their government no longer worked for them. From these frustrations, a radical idea emerged: What if citizens didn’t have to wait for politicians to act? What if they could draft proposals for their own laws, gather support from their neighbors, and force them onto the ballot?On this episode, we’ll welcome four experts for a special deep dive into the history and modern debate around citizen initiated ballot measures.

Our guests include:

  • John Matsusaka from the University of Southern California – making his second appearance on the show and we’re excited to have him back – to walk us through some of that early history and to highlight how the initiative process has evolved from those early days over the course of the 20th century.
  • Maybe our most frequent guest, Ballotpedia’s own Ryan Byrne, who will guide us through the highs and lows of ballot measure usage over time. He’ll tease out the forces that determine why some initiatives succeed while others fail, share some of our analysis from the last several years, and explain the strategies campaigns use to qualify initiatives for the ballot today.
  • Dane Waters, an advocate for direct democracy and a founder of The Initiative & Referendum Institute. He’s spent decades advocating for and analyzing citizen lawmaking, both in the U.S. and around the world. We thought he’d be the perfect person to help bring us inside the process, from the grassroots to the global scale.
  • And finally, Dan Smith from the University of Florida, who’ll help us connect this historical journey to what’s happening right now. Dan will peel back the curtain on the political tug-of-war between legislatures and citizens over ballot measures. Are these tools still a way to give power back to the people? Or have they become battlegrounds for special interests?

You’ll notice that some of our guest’s answers overlap a bit – for example, we asked each of them questions what topics and issues they think could dominate the landscape over the next several years, or whether more states could adopt the initiative process in the future – but we think that’s all part of what we do best here at On the Ballot: Arming you all kinds of data, anecdotes, and perspectives so you can make up your own mind.

Learn more about:
On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia.




RECENT EPISODES

Otb200tile.png
Episode #200Introducing: Office Hours, a new monthly series from OTB

To mark our 200th episode, Ballotpedia Founder and CEO Leslie Graves joins Host Norm Leahy for the debut of our new monthly series Office Hours. Leslie outlines her ambitious vision to cover all 520,000 elected offices in the U.S. by 2034, explains the mission behind Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey, and makes the case for why voters deserve “robust information” at every level of the ballot.

OTB_HomePage_Thumbnails_%288_most_recent_episodes%29_%28400_x_400_px%29_%283%29.png
Episode #2302025 Election Results

Political analyst Miles Coleman from the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics and Sabato’s Crystal Ball breaks down the results of this November’s elections, from Virginia and New Jersey to major ballot measures across the country. He explains why polling missed the mark in some races, what surprised him most about the results, and how redistricting in California and Virginia could reshape congressional control heading into 2026.

OTB_HomePage_Thumbnails_%288_most_recent_episodes%29_%28400_x_400_px%29_%284%29.png
Episode #222How Many House Seats Could Flip as a Result of Redistricting Efforts Around the Country?

Erin Covey — Editor of U.S. House coverage at the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter — explains the political strategies at play and the legal uncertainties that surround them, as states move to redraw their congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterms.

OTB_HomePage_Thumbnails_%288_most_recent_episodes%29_%28400_x_400_px%29_%282%29.png
Episode #216Prop 50, Explained (Recorded pre-election)

California voters decided on November 5th to approve a ballot measure that would amend the state’s constitution to temporarily suspend the state’s independent redistricting commission and replace its maps with new, partisan-drawn districts. Maya C. Miller of CalMatters joins the show to explain everything you need to know.

OTB_HomePage_Thumbnails_%288_most_recent_episodes%29_%28400_x_400_px%29_%281%29.png
Episode #213A Brief History of the Federal Reserve

The Fed has been at the center of America’s biggest economic turning points for more than a century as one of the country’s most powerful institutions. Former Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker joins host Norm Leahy to trace that story—from the banking panics that led to its creation in 1913 to JP Morgan’s role in corralling Wall Street leaders.

OTB_HomePage_Thumbnails_%288_most_recent_episodes%29_%28400_x_400_px%29.png
Episode #210Texas Redistricting Battle Spreads Nationwide

Texas Tribune reporter Eleanor Klibanoff and independent election analyst Nathaniel Rakich break down how Texas began their redistricting journey that ultimately led to six states and counting drawing new congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterms.

OTB194.png
Episode #195How Presidential power has evolved since America’s founding

Constitutional scholar Sai Prakash explores the origins, evolution, and modern realities of presidential power. Drawing on historical debates from the Constitutional Convention, Prakash outlines how early framers envisioned a limited executive—primarily tasked with enforcing laws—and how that vision has shifted over time.

TileCrypto.png
Episode #187An Introduction to Crypto Policy

Cryptocurrency has evolved from a niche experiment into a disruptive force with global implications—and U.S. financial institutions, lawmakers, and regulators are working to establish clear crypto-related policy. In this interview with ⁠former CFTC Chairman Chris Giancarlo, we unpack the state of crypto policy in 2025: The political realignment around digital assets, the rapid growth of stablecoins, the future of tokenized securities, and the debate over whether the U.S. should adopt a central bank digital currency or establish a ⁠strategic Bitcoin reserve.⁠

FIND OUR EPISODE ARCHIVE HERE


Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=On_the_Ballot_Episode_160_Citizen_Initiatives_giving_power_to_the_people&oldid=10202305"