California’s Ballot Measures Don’t Need to Be a Hot Mess

A Swiss-Style Model of Counterproposals Could Make for Smarter Voting and Better Public Policy

No man is happy but by comparison.

– Thomas Shadwell, poet laureate, United Kingdom (1689-1692)

If you want to better understand the true nature of a proposal, consider a counterproposal.

Looking at two competing proposals forces you to reckon with the different details of each idea.

Which is why every proposition on the California ballot should have a counterproposal listed next to it.

I raise this idea now because of a nasty fight in the State Capitol that made headlines earlier this summer. The fight was over a November ballot initiative and …

by Joe Mathews | August 6, 2024

Could This New Democratic Tool Make Californians Vote Smarter?

The Digital Deliberative Poll May Encourage the Public to Learn More About Their Ballots

by Joe Mathews | April 9, 2024

Californians vote on many ballot measures, but we almost never participate in significant public debates and discussions about the measures’ contents and impacts.

This isn’t simply a result of apathy or …

Arnold Schwarzenegger, right, dressed in a suit, stares intensely at a robot, left, from the Terminator movies.

In California Politics, You Must Find Your Inner Terminator

Your Winning Initiative Requires More Sequels Than Governor Schwarzenegger’s Movies

by Joe Mathews | March 14, 2023

Running for office in California is a tough job, but ultimately temporary. The election happens, you win or you lose, and life goes on.

But sponsoring a ballot initiative is forever.

That …

Here’s Your California Democracy. Would You Like Fries With That?

My Trip to a Wendy's in Colton Shows Why the Golden State Treats Law-Making Like Fast Food

By Joe Mathews | May 7, 2018

One recent Sunday night, I stopped by a Wendy’s in Colton, a gritty San Bernardino County logistics crossroads (pop. 52,000) best known as home to one of America’s oldest and …

Why Hand Counting Votes Makes Every Vote Count

From Maine to Alaska, Manual Tallies Bring Trust and Transparency to Nerve-Racking Elections

By Lisa Margonelli | November 15, 2016

Just before the polls closed on election night, I met with 12 of my townspeople at our town hall in Maine, raised my right hand, and took an oath to …

It Takes More Than a Naked Katy Perry to Get Out the Vote

Ranking Candidates Gives People What They Want: a Choice, a Party, and Tighter Elections

By Krist Novoselic | November 3, 2016

Katy Perry’s new Rock the Vote video offers a great strategy for encouraging engagement in democracy—prurient interest. She tries to vote naked, and ends up being arrested and taken away. …

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