Civics Lesson 2.5 Direct Democracy Tuesday, March 18

​Lesson 2.5 Direct Democracy

C – 3.2.6 Describe and evaluate referendums, initiatives, and recall as mechanisms used to influence state and local government. Use a case study to examine the impact of one such listed mechanism.

Participatory democracy (sometimes called direct democracy) is the idea that everyone should be, and can be, involved in politics.

It emphasizes broad participation in politics and encourages ordinary people —not just a small subset of the population— to be responsible for political decisions.

​All political power is inherent
in the people.

In the US, the terms initiative and referendum refer to processes that allow citizens of states to vote on particular pieces of legislation.

• The initiative process allows citizens to propose a new statute or constitutional amendment.

• The referendum process allows citizens to refer a law that passed the legislature to the ballot for voters to decide whether to uphold or repeal the law.

The initiative for which Michigan is most famous is the "Bottle Bill," approved by a two to one margin in 1976, which put a 10-cent deposit on bottles and cans.

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​Bottle Bill

​Bottle Bill

A political recall is the process by which citizens can remove elected officials from office before their term is completed.

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