Passion, reason go hand in hand on initiatives

James Madison was one Founding Father who wouldn't be happy to see Utahns putting initiatives on the ballot to change laws.

In Federalist Paper No. 49, he wrote that with direct democracy, "The passions … not the reason, of the public would sit in judgment."

L.A. Times columnist Gregory Rodriguez, who works in a state paralyzed by popular passions, put it differently earlier this year. "Much of the life of an average citizen is lived in the spirit of indifference, if not outright defiance, toward the political system," he wrote. "Our general indifference is interrupted by intense moments of engagement. But to ask voters to make too many decisions too much of the time tips the delicate balance between indifference and engagement, and that can lead to civic contempt."

Sort of reminds me of a pilot I once knew who described his job as hour after hour of tedium, interspersed with intense, and sometimes terrifying, moments. For those who study issues and value deliberation, initiatives can indeed bring terrifying moments.

And yet there are few issues better suited to direct democracy, with all its inherent problems, than ethics at the Utah Legislature.

A group called Utahns for Ethical Government has written an initiative that will be on the 2010 ballot for your consideration, provided its supporters can gather signatures from 10 percent of voters in 26 of the state's 29 Senate districts and then hold public hearings in seven regions of the state.

Lawmakers set that high bar for initiatives a few years ago. Regardless of why they did so, it was a wise move. For all its faults, the Legislature does provide a process for hearing and deliberating bills and for amending them. Initiatives don't get that kind of scrutiny.

And yet the bar is so high that the only successful initiatives end up being ones pushed by interest groups or well-funded organizations — or by groups that can stir the passions of voters.

In this case, though, passion and reason seem to be walking hand-in-hand. As the initiative itself describes it: "Over the years, concerned legislators have sponsored bill after bill to strengthen Utah's laws on legislative ethics. All but cosmetic gestures towards reform have withered and died. Scandals are forgotten until next time, and then forgotten again. A citizens' commission formed by the governor to study and make recommendations for ethics reforms had the subject stricken from its agenda as a result of pressure from legislative leaders. If we, the people, are ever to get comprehensive and meaningful ethics reform, we will have to write and pass the law ourselves."