Initiative Process

Re “Everyone’s Happy--Except Voters,” Commentary, Aug. 3:

Mark W. Davis is mistaken regarding the origin of California’s initiative process. He incorrectly declares that it “is a pioneer inheritance from state founders who had a populist suspicion of power.” The initiative was not a part of state politics until 1911, when Gov. Hiram Johnson pushed it through the Legislature. By giving voters access to lawmaking powers, Johnson’s Progressive Party hoped to retake political power from political machines and moneyed interests, principally the Southern Pacific Railroad.

But among the first initiatives to be passed by California voters was the Alien Land Law of 1920, which prohibited land ownership by people who were not allowed to become citizens, primarily Chinese and Japanese immigrants. Proposition 187 and its predecessors sadly demonstrate that Californians sometimes use their democratic power to chip away at the very foundation of their democracy.

THOMAS M. HEANEY

Irvine