Initiative, Referendum, and Recall
Progressives sought to enable the citizenry to rule more directly and circumvent political bosses. Thanks to the efforts of Oregon Populist Party State Representative William S. U'Ren and his Direct Legislation League, voters in Oregon overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure in 1902 that created the initiative and referendum processes for citizens to directly introduce or approve proposed laws or amendments to the state constitution, making Oregon the first state to adopt such a system.
An initiative (also known as a "popular" or "citizens'" initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote (plebiscite).
The initiative may take the form of a direct initiative or an indirect initiative. In a direct initiative, a measure is put directly to a vote after being submitted by a petition. In an indirect initiative, a measure is first referred to the legislature, and then put to a popular vote only if not enacted by the legislature.
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to vote on a particular proposal, which is the result of a successful initiative. This may result in the adoption of a new law.
The vote may be on a proposed statute, constitutional amendment, charter amendment, or local ordinance, or to simply oblige the executive or legislature to consider the subject by submitting it to the order of the day. It is a form of direct democracy.
U'Ren also helped in the passage of an amendment in 1908 that gave voters power to recall elected officials. A recall election (also called a "recall referendum" or "representative recall") is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before his or her term has ended. Recalls are initiated when sufficient voters sign a petition.
U'Ren would also go on to establish, at the state level, popular election of U.S. senators and the first presidential primary in the United States.
In 1911, California governor Hiram Johnson established the Oregon system of "Initiative, Referendum, and Recall" in his state, viewing them as good influences for citizen participation against the historic influence of large corporations on state lawmakers. These Progressive reforms were soon replicated in other states, including in Idaho, Washington, and Wisconsin, and today, roughly half of the states have initiative, referendum, and recall provisions in their state constitutions.
Direct Election of Senators
About 16 states began using primary elections to reduce the power of bosses and machines. The Seventeenth Amendment was ratified in 1913, requiring that all senators be elected by the people (instead of by state legislatures). The main motivation was to reduce the power of political bosses who controlled the Senate seats by virtue of their control of state legislatures. The result, according to political scientist Henry Ford Jones, was that the U.S. Senate had become a, "Diet of party lords, wielding their power without scruple or restraint, in behalf of those particular interests" that put them in office.
Reformers worked toward a constitutional amendment, which was strongly supported in the House of Representatives but initially opposed by the Senate. Bybee notes that the state legislatures, which would lose power if the reforms went through, were supportive of the campaign. By 1910, 31 state legislatures had passed resolutions calling for a constitutional amendment allowing direct election, and in the same year, 10 Republican senators who were opposed to reform were forced out of their seats, acting as a, "wake-up call to the Senate."
Reformers included William Jennings Bryan. Bryan and the reformers argued for popular election by highlighting perceived flaws with the existing system, specifically corruption and electoral deadlocks, and by arousing populist sentiment. Most important was the Populist argument: that there was a need to, "Awaken, in the senators... a more acute sense of responsibility to the people." Election through state legislatures was seen as an anachronism that was out of step with the wishes of the American people, and one that had led to the Senate becoming, "a sort of aristocratic body—too far removed from the people, beyond their reach, and with no special interest in their welfare." The settlement of the West and continuing absorption of hundreds of thousands of immigrants expanded the sense of "the people."
Robert M. La Follette Sr.
Robert M. La Follette Sr. (June 14, 1855–June 18, 1925) was an American Republican (and later a Progressive) politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was the governor of Wisconsin, and was a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin from 1906 to 1925. He ran for president of the United States as the nominee of his own Progressive Party in 1924, carrying Wisconsin and winning 17 percent of the national popular vote. La Follette has been called, "arguably the most important and recognized leader of the opposition to the growing dominance of corporations over the Government," and is one of the key figures pointed to in Wisconsin's long history of political liberalism. He is best remembered as a proponent of Progressivism and a vocal opponent of railroad trusts, bossism, World War I, and the League of Nations.
As governor of Wisconsin, La Follette championed numerous Progressive reforms, including the first workers' compensation system, railroad rate reform, direct legislation, municipal home rule, open government, the minimum wage, non-partisan elections, the open primary system, direct election of U.S. Senators, women's suffrage, and Progressive taxation. He created an atmosphere of close cooperation between the state government and the University of Wisconsin in the development of Progressive policy, which became known as the "Wisconsin Idea." The goals of his policy included establishing the recall, referendum, direct primary, and initiative. All of these were aimed at giving citizens a more direct role in government.
The Wisconsin Idea promoted the idea of grounding legislation in thorough research and expert involvement. To implement this program, La Follette began working with University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty. This made Wisconsin a, "laboratory for democracy" and, "the most important state for the development of Progressive legislation." As governor, La Follette signed legislation that created the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Library (now Bureau) to ensure that a research agency would be available for the development of legislation.
Robert M. La Follette Sr.
Robert M. La Follette Sr. served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was the governor of Wisconsin, and was a U.S. senator from Wisconsin from 1906 to 1925. He was a leader in the Progressive movement in American politics.