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The history of direct democracy amongst non-Native Americans in the United States dates from the 1630s in the New England Colonies. [1] The legislatures of the New England colonies were initially governed as popular assemblies, with every freeman eligible to directly vote in the election of officers and drafting of laws. Within a couple of ...
The Oregon Direct Legislation League was an organization of political activists founded by William S. U'Ren in the U.S. state of Oregon in 1898. U'Ren had been politically activated by reading the influential 1893 book Direct Legislation Through the Initiative and Referendum, [1] and the group's founding followed in the wake of the 1896 founding of the National Direct Legislation League, which ...
In the direct democracy of Athens, the citizens did not nominate representatives to vote on legislation and executive bills on their behalf (as in the United States) but instead voted as individuals. The public opinion of voters was influenced by the political satire of the comic poets in the theatres. [23]
Legislative referral (aka "legislative referendum", or "referendum bill" in the state of Washington for legislatively referred state statute), in which the legislature puts proposed legislation up for popular vote (either voluntarily or, in the case of a constitutional amendment, as an obligatory part of the procedure). [15]
U'Ren had been inspired by reading the influential 1893 book Direct Legislation Through the Initiative and Referendum, [76] and the group's founding followed in the wake of the 1896 founding of the National Direct Legislation League, which itself had its roots in the Direct Legislation League of New Jersey and its short-lived predecessor, the ...
The Seventeenth Amendment (Amendment XVII) to the United States Constitution established the direct election of United States senators in each state. The amendment supersedes Article I, Section 3, Clauses 1 and 2 of the Constitution, under which senators were elected by state legislatures.
Legislative power was vested in the United States Congress, a bicameral legislature consisting of an upper chamber representing each state, the United States Senate, and a lower chamber representing equally divided districts within the states, the United States House of Representatives. At the time, members of the House were directly elected ...
The Oregon System of direct democracy is largely credit to William U'Ren, one time a member of the Populist Party and the founder of the Oregon Direct Legislation League in 1898. U'Ren committed to direct legislation as a way combat corrupt practices in government, using it as a tool to break through the political gridlock in the state legislature.