And to the Republic for Which It Stands: Guaranteeing a Republican Form of Government

Authors

Catherine A. Rogers
David L. Faigman

Abstract

Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution was intended to safeguard against instability and oppression of voting minorities and to provide a check on factious majorities through a system of representative democracy. The state initiative process directly undermines these principles by allowing measures such as the CCRI to be enacted via direct vote of a largely uninformed population. This "direct democracy" violates the guarantee of a republican form of government in its lack of formal deliberation and debate, absence of opportunity to compromise, polarization of views, deception, and ultimate voter confusion.

This Essay also addresses the arguments in favor of the initiative process, and rejects the proposed solution of heightened scrutiny of such direct legislation-arguing that such balancing is inappropriate in light of the Guarantee Clause's inherent demand for categorical assessment, and its overriding preference for representative democracy.

Recommended Citation

Catherine A. Rogers and David L. Faigman, And to the Republic for Which It Stands: Guaranteeing a Republican Form of Government, 23 Hastings Const. L.Q. 1057 (1996).
Available at: https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_constitutional_law_quaterly/vol23/iss4/4