01:00 AM EST on Friday, March 10, 2006

AN OLD college friend who now lives in Bristol called me the other day with a story.

"On a recent trip to the supermarket, I was approached by a man with a clipboard asking me to sign a petition that would get my taxes lowered. I thought I was living back in Oregon."

My friend learned that the man was soliciting signatures in favor of voter initiative, and that he could be sure that if the people were able to vote on this issue, his taxes would tumble.

My friend -- who has actually lived in several states with voter initiative -- asked the volunteer if voter initiative would also allow the people to vote on issues such as the purchase of beer and wine in grocery stores, prohibiting same-sex marriages, and opening a casino.

The man seeking signatures seemed puzzled and called to a colleague, who said he didn't think those issues would be voted on. My friend smiled, said he didn't want to sign, and thought, "These guys might just get what they asked for" as he walked to the produce aisle.

He called me to share his story, because he knows that I am a member of the Rhode Island General Assembly. He also knows that issues such as beer and wine sales, marriage requirements, and casino licensing are far more likely to be the topics of voter-initiative legislation, and that as soon as well-financed special interests get organized, their proposals will be on the ballot in short order.

Voter initiative is not new. It is an option available in 24 states, beginning with South Dakota, in 1897. It was adopted in many Western states during the early 20th Century and became more common in the late 1970s. Currently, almost 60 percent of initiative activity occurs in just five states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington.

David Magelby, an expert on the subject, examined more than 1,700 ballot initiatives. He found that government reform and tax measures made up approximately half the activity, with many of the tax measures intended to increase tax revenue.

The rest of the issues centered on business regulation (liability issues, hospitals, and insurance), public morality (abortion, same-sex marriage, assisted suicide, gambling), and environment and land use. Magelby noted, and other political scientists confirm, that matters dealing with business regulation and gambling elicit the largest campaign expenditures.

Initiatives that become law, and in some instances change state constitutions, have one factor in common: They are backed by people with considerable financial resources. Several studies report that two-thirds of the total contributions come from donations of over $100,000.

The U.S. Supreme Court has decided that there can be no contribution limits for initiatives, that corporate contributions are allowed, and that it is permissible to pay signature gatherers to get a question on the ballot. States can require only that initiative proponents disclose their contributions and how the money was spent.

In California, Ron Utz, a multimillionaire software developer with little background in the field of education, contributed $650,000 of the $976,000 campaign to mandate the exclusive use of the English language beyond one-year immersion classes. It passed.

Paul Allen, a co-founder of Microsoft and the seventh-richest man in the world, spent over $10 million to have the State of Washington fund what is now Seattle's Qwest Field. Allen owns the Seattle Seahawks, who play there. The initiative passed.

Big money doesn't always succeed. In 2002, Wal-Mart lost a California initiative campaign that would have allowed super-center development. Some said the fact that Wal-Mart had paid the campaign's signature gatherers a higher rate than its employees led to the question's 2-to-1 defeat at the polls.

Two important issues will emerge in the debate over voter initiative in the coming months. First, initiatives are winner-take-all. There is no room for compromise once the initiative meets the signature requirements for ballot consideration. If the question is polarizing, the minority has no options. In no fewer than 11 states, voters have weighed initiatives defining marriage as between a man and a woman, and in all 11 states, the voters approved them.

Second, and equally remarkable, initiatives are virtually impossible to change once passed. With one major exception -- the alterations voted to Colorado's Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR), in 2005 -- states have been stuck with policies that have proved disastrous. Colorado suffered from crippled services and havoc in educational institutions, and lost the use of many of its highways. The 2005 alterations initiative was endorsed by many of the original TABOR proponents.

Voter initiative lacks the elements that representative democracy provides (for all its faults) to ensure policies and priorities for all its citizens. Observers of the process say that voter initiative has outgrown the laws that should have governed it.

Initiative becomes the tool of the special interests that so-called reformers claim are exploiting the legislature. Initiative lacks the critical elements that representative government provides through the process of debate, conciliation, and compromise. The pace of this process may seem frustratingly slow, even painful at times, but it ensures careful deliberation and leads to fair public policy.

Voter initiative is a quick fix. Find a rich source willing to back you, get the paid or volunteer help to gather enough signatures, and promote it with a well-positioned media campaign.

Voter initiative is a lot more than they are telling you. As my friend from Bristol says, "Be careful -- you just might get what you asked for!"

John Patrick Shanley is a Democratic state representative from South Kingstown.