Learn about initiative, referendum and recall

Overview: A prominent California Democrat said on Wednesday, August 6 that she would not square off against her state's Democratic governor in an upcoming recall election. The announcement by Sen. Dianne Feinstein comes as Gov. Gray Davis faces a kind of political confrontation that no governor in the U.S. has faced in more than 80 years.

RESOURCES • Petition for Writ of Mandate Davis v. Shelley  (FindLaw, PDF) • Candidate Status Report   • Full-text state statutes and legislation  • Initiative, Referendum, and Recall: The Process  • CNN.com: Davis files suit to change, postpone recall election  • CNN.com: Candidates gear up for election   • CNN.com: California AFL-CIO asks Dems to stay off recall ballot  • Interactive: Map: Petition signatures by county

Who is Gray Davis? What is a "recall" election? When are why is Davis facing a recall election? How common are gubernatorial recall elections in the U.S.? Who is Darrell Issa? What is his role in the recall election? What does Issa say about the recall election and why Californians are unhappy with Davis? Why do you think Davis calls the recall effort a "hostile takeover" by Republicans? Do you agree with his assessment? Why or why not?

How many signatures are required on a petition to recall a governor in California? Who is Diane Feinstein? What is her position on the recall vote? Why do you think Feinstein calls the effort to remove Davis a "terrible mistake"? Why do you think California's major Democratic officeholders have chosen not to run against Davis? In your opinion, why do strategists from both parties believe that Davis would be more likely to keep his job if there are no Democratic alternatives?

Inform students that the elements of what is called a "direct democracy" are: initiative, referendum and recall. Not all states have all three of these avenues, but over half of all U.S. states have at least one. Direct student groups to the American Society of Legislative Clerks & Secretaries' explanation of these methods at http://www.ncsl.org/programs/legman/aslcs/drage00.htm to learn more about direct democracy. Have each group create a flow chart that defines initiative, referendum and recall, describes the benefits and drawbacks of each, and shows how each method is used to change law or an election outcome. Pose the following questions to assist groups in their research:

• What is the difference between a "direct initiative" and an "indirect initiative"?

• What is the difference between a "legislative referendum" and a "popular referendum"?

• In general, what are the main steps to getting an initiative, referendum or recall on a ballot?

• Which, if any, of these methods does your state employ?

• What do you think are the benefits and drawbacks of each of these methods?

After groups complete their charts, have them comb print and Web resources to learn about local and state issues that are of interest to them. Then ask group to consider how an initiative, a referendum and a recall might be applied to the different issues.

Teachers: To access a rubric for evaluating charts, go to the following Holt, Rinehart and Winston Web site: http://go.hrw.com/resources/go_ss/teacher99/rubrics/RUBRIC07.pdf.