Stevenson: Don’t be like California – Mississippi Ballot Initiative 

By Jon Stevenson

Note: The following opinion-editorial article is written and provided by Jon Stevenson, a DeSoto County businessman and head of the DeSoto Integrity and Government Political Action Committee. Opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily that of this publication.  

California.  That is my response.  California.  Whenever anybody around the state talks about restoring the ballot initiative in Mississippi, my reply is simply California.  Why may you ask me to say that?  Simple, if you want to see the horrific effects of direct Democracy through the ballot initiative process, just look at the morass that is the jumble of contradictory laws, budget requirements, and tax limitations that comprise the California ballot initiative laws!

All one needs to do is look at Proposition 47 which was passed in 2014 which reduced many non-violent drug crimes from felonies to misdemeanors in the state.  This was pushed by the far Left Social Justice warriors and funded by Tech company billionaires.  Proposition 47 caused an explosion of homeless encampments in the state and left law enforcement unable to effectively police the drug addled homeless population.

One can argue that this is Mississippi and we have a more sensible population of voters, and I would agree.  Even Democrats in Mississippi are mostly far from the Woke left that inhabit the voting booths of Berkeley and San Francisco!  But even if our voters are more moderate and conservative than California we still have the same problem that these left leaning voters have when deciding ballot measures; an absence of time to thoroughly study a ballot issue.

One of the leading reasons that the founders of the Untied States settled on a representative republic rather than a direct democracy or even a representative democracy like those that exist in Europe today, is that they felt that direct democracy resulted in poor decisions.  

In Federalist No. 10, James Madison explicitly warned against direct democracy in larger societies arguing that representative government was necessary to refine and enlarge the public views by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of elected representatives.  That chosen body, in our state called the legislature, could devote the time necessary to study, consider, and refine laws before they are inflicted on the citizens of the state.

Thomas Jefferson, while sympathetic to democratic ideals, still cautioned against the idea of an uneducated population participating in creating laws, which is exactly what happens in a ballot initiative process.  And before those reading this get up in arms about me saying they are uneducated; remember that becoming educated about a specific issue, or more importantly law, is much different that a general education.  

Alexander Hamilton, advocated for a strong central government in general, to check the excess inherent in direct democracy and democracy in general.  In Federalist No. 71 Hamilton criticized the idea of giving too much power to the people, suggesting that it would lead to instability and the tyranny of the majority.

So those that advocate for direct democracy through a ballot initiative process are those same people, in my opinion, that refuse to learn from history.  Refuse to respect the heritage and knowledge of the people who gave us this wonderful country in the first place.  

Our founders knew direct democracy well.  It was commonly practiced in villages and towns all over the colonies before the Constitution was ratified. They knew it and rejected it because they understood what could happen when it went off the rails!  

Mississippi’s legislature should do the same as our founding fathers.  They should reject the ballot initiative process.  We don’t need it.  Our founding fathers understood this, and California is learning this the hard way.  

But the average voter may ask, how do I fix our government without a ballot initiative?  That’s easy, do your job as a voter and replace your elected representatives more often.  Don’t let any of them get too comfortable in those seats in Jackson!