Proposition 7 of 1911 (or Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 22) was an amendment of the

Constitution of California The Constitution of California ( es, Constitución de California) is the primary organizing law for the U.S. state of California, describing the duties, powers, structures and functions of the government of California. California's original ...

that introduced, for the first time, the

initiative In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a ...

and the optional

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a Representative democr ...

. Prior to 1911 the only form of

direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the electorate decides on policy initiatives without elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently established democracies, which are repres ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

was the compulsory referendum.The Initiative Process
/ref> Since the first state constitution was enacted in 1849, it has been obligatory for constitutional amendments and certain other measures to be approved by voters in a referendum in order to become law. Proposition 7 introduced a form of optional (or facultative) referendum on ordinary

statute A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by ...

s. This means that a proposed law passed by the state legislature must be put before the electorate if a specific number of voters sign a petition requesting a referendum. The amendment also introduced the more powerful initiative procedure. This means that a certain number of voters can propose an entirely new statute or constitutional amendment, which then must be put to a vote of the people. Proposition 7 was part of the

Progressive Era The Progressive Era (late 1890s – late 1910s) was a period of widespread social activism and political reform across the United States focused on defeating corruption, monopoly, waste and inefficiency. The main themes ended during Am ...

of reforms. On the same day voters approved Proposition 4, which granted women the vote, and

Proposition 8 Proposition 8, known informally as Prop 8, was a California ballot proposition and a state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage; it passed in the November 2008 California state elections and was later overturned in cou ...

, which introduced another instrument of direct democracy, the recall of elected representatives.

Provisions

Proposition 7 was approved by the

California Legislature The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legislatu ...

on 20 February 1911. It was ratified by voters in a referendum held as part of a special election on 10 October. The amendment altered the state constitution by rewriting and adding a long set of provisions to Article 4, Section 1, which dealt with the legislature. As amended, the section began, It continued, "the first power reserved to the people shall be known as the initiative" and "the second power reserved to the people shall be known as the referendum". The provisions on direct democracy have since been moved, and reworded somewhat. Today they are contained in Article 2.

References

{{reflist

External links

Documents on the State-wide Initiative, Referendum & Recall
(Includes full text of SCA No. 22)

1911 California ballot propositions

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

Electoral system ballot measures in the United States

Provisions

See also

References

External links