Government in the United States, National, State and Local

by James Wilford Garner

Lobbying and Bribery.—In all our states a large proportion of the legislation enacted affects directly or indirectly the interests of particular persons, classes, or localities. As a result, interested parties bring great pressure to bear upon the members to pass certain bills or to reject certain others.

Methods of the Lobbyist.—Usually when the legislature meets, the paid representatives of interested individuals, corporations, or local governments appear on the scene to urge legislation in their interests or to defeat bills introduced that are unfavorable to them. These persons are known as "lobbyists," and the means they employ to secure or prevent legislation are often improper and sometimes venal. Sometimes money is used to bribe members to vote for or against pending measures, and there are few states indeed where charges of this kind have not been made. In one state recently, money was contributed in large quantities by persons interested in preventing certain legislation, and the sum thus contributed was known as the "jack pot" fund, out of which members were handsomely paid for their votes. In a special message to the legislature of New York state, Governor Hughes declared that certain disclosures had "caused honest citizens to tingle with shame and indignation and made irresistible the demand that every proper means should be employed to purge and purify the legislature." The situation described by the governor as existing in New York, unfortunately exists in other states as well.

"Strike" Bills.—Some of the great corporations maintain regularly paid lobbyists at the state capitals when the legislature is in session, not so much for the purpose of securing legislation in their interests as to prevent the enactment of laws to which they are opposed. Sometimes they are practically forced to have lobbyists on the ground to prevent the enactment of what are called "strike" bills, that is, bills introduced by unscrupulous members for the purpose of extorting money from the corporations to pay for defeating them.

Anti-lobbying Legislation.—The evils growing out of the practice of the special interests in maintaining paid lobbyists near the legislature have led to attempts in a number of states to restrict such abuses by legislation. This legislation, in general, makes it unlawful to attempt to influence improperly any legislator. In several states lobbyists are required to make known the purpose of their business and to register their names with the secretary of state, and after the adjournment of the legislature to file a sworn statement of their expenses.

Direct Legislation: the Initiative and the Referendum.—The legislature is not the only agency for enacting law and determining the public policies of the state. Laws on certain subjects may be made by the people themselves acting directly in their primary capacity as well as through the agency of representatives. This is done through what are called the initiative and the referendum. The initiative is a device by which the people themselves may propose laws and have them submitted to the voters for their approval or rejection. Through the referendum the people reserve the power to approve or reject by popular vote certain laws enacted by the legislature.

Varieties of Referendum.—The referendum may be obligatory or optional in character, that is, the approval of the electorate may be required by the constitution before certain laws shall go into effect, or the legislature in its discretion may refer a law to the people for their opinion. Thus the constitutions of many states declare that no law for increasing the debt of the state beyond a certain amount shall be valid until it has been submitted to the voters and approved by them. Again, the referendum may be mandatory or advisory in character. Under the mandatory form, the legislature is required to carry out the will of the electorate as pronounced on any subject referred to the voters, while the advisory referendum is nothing more than an expression of opinion which may or may not be followed by legislative action.

Again, the referendum may be state-wide in its scope, as where a general law or question of public policy is submitted to the voters of the whole state, or it may be of a local character, as where a law affecting a particular community is referred to the voters thereof.

The referendum as a device for adopting constitutions and constitutional amendments is as old as the republic itself, and is now the general practice (pp. 65, 70). In all the states except Delaware proposed amendments must be submitted to the voters at a general or special election, and must be adopted by them before going into effect. The use of the referendum for ordinary lawmaking is also an old practice, though it is much more generally resorted to now than formerly. Thus very early in our history it was employed for such purposes as the incorporation of towns, borrowing money, the location of county sites, division of counties, subscription to stock in railroads and other enterprises by states, counties, or towns, and the levying of special taxes for the support of schools. One of the important uses to which it was put was the determination of the question whether intoxicating liquor should be sold in a particular locality. In time what were called local option laws were passed in many states, giving the people of towns, cities, or other local divisions of the state the privilege of determining by popular vote whether liquor should be sold within their limits. Other matters that have frequently been made the subject of a referendum are: the granting of the suffrage to negroes, and sometimes the enfranchisement of women; the location of state capitals; the sale of school lands; the incorporation of state banks of issue; the granting of aid to railroads; the adoption of the township form of local government; the construction of canals; the erection of public libraries; and many other matters too numerous to mention. There is no state in which the referendum is not provided by the constitution for certain kinds of legislation, and there is hardly a general election held nowadays in which the voters are not called upon to pass judgment upon some proposed act of the legislature or some question of public policy.

In Illinois there has been enacted what is known as the "public opinion law," which provides that upon petition by 10 per cent of the registered voters of the state the legislature is required to submit to the voters any question of public policy for their opinion. The popular vote, however, is nothing more than an expression of opinion by the voters and is not binding upon the legislature.

The Oregon System.—The idea of the initiative and the referendum has been carried out most fully in Oregon, whose constitution provides that 8 per cent of the voters may by petition propose an amendment to the constitution, and when so proposed it must be submitted to the voters and if approved by a majority of them the amendment becomes a part of the constitution. Likewise the constitution of Oregon provides for the initiation and adoption of ordinary laws by the people. It further provides that upon the petition of 5 per cent of the voters any act of the legislature, with certain exceptions, before going into effect, must be submitted to the people for their approval, and if not approved by a majority of those voting, it shall not go into effect. From 1904 to 1914, 130 constitutional amendments and statutes were submitted to popular vote, of which 46 were adopted. For the information of the voters, "publicity pamphlets" are provided, containing an explanation of the measures upon which they are called to vote, together with arguments for and against each proposition. In 1912 these arguments (on 37 measures) made a book of 252 pages.