I doubt that there is any initiative for which every signatory to the petition understood what the intiative really meant, although the marketing of this measure to petition signers was probably worse than most.  The conversation in front of a grocery store typically involves very few words and because of its context can't be very informative, and the number of initiatives circulating at any one time is too great for an average citizen to keep track of.

The progressives who thought that the initiative process would give power to the people and take it from monied interests and put that power in the Colorado constitution for that reason were mistaken.  While there are campaign finance and lobbyist issues in the state house as well, pure cash alone is not enough to get a bill considered seriously in the general assembly, but it is enough to get an issue on the ballot.

The initiative process also removes everyone but the self-appointed handful of people in a smoke filled room who draft it from having any say over the details or any ability to force substantive amendments or compromises.  No legislator has this kind of take or it leave it power to shield a bill from facing amendments.

The vast majority of recent initiatives have gotten on the ballot only through the aid of a small number of major financial backers for each one.  Money can't buy a majority vote of the people, but it can get almost anything on the ballot and can strongly persaude the public on the merits through advertising (which is quite efficient in Colorado since Colorado has most of its population in a small number of media markets which are overwhelmingly in a single state).

The initiative process does provide a way to break the gordian knot of intractable countermajoritarian coalitions in the legislature, but it operates on a pay to play basis with a very high price of admission.

Don't like the way the white guys are running things? Be revolting, mon.

Don’t like the way the white guys are running things? Be revolting, mon.

I doubt that there is any initiative for which every signatory to the petition understood what the intiative really meant, although the marketing of this measure to petition signers was probably worse than most.  The conversation in front of a grocery store typically involves very few words and because of its context can’t be very informative, and the number of initiatives circulating at any one time is too great for an average citizen to keep track of.

The progressives who thought that the initiative process would give power to the people and take it from monied interests and put that power in the Colorado constitution for that reason were mistaken.  While there are campaign finance and lobbyist issues in the state house as well, pure cash alone is not enough to get a bill considered seriously in the general assembly, but it is enough to get an issue on the ballot.

The initiative process also removes everyone but the self-appointed handful of people in a smoke filled room who draft it from having any say over the details or any ability to force substantive amendments or compromises.  No legislator has this kind of take or it leave it power to shield a bill from facing amendments.

The vast majority of recent initiatives have gotten on the ballot only through the aid of a small number of major financial backers for each one.  Money can’t buy a majority vote of the people, but it can get almost anything on the ballot and can strongly persaude the public on the merits through advertising (which is quite efficient in Colorado since Colorado has most of its population in a small number of media markets which are overwhelmingly in a single state).

The initiative process does provide a way to break the gordian knot of intractable countermajoritarian coalitions in the legislature, but it operates on a pay to play basis with a very high price of admission.