Ballot Initiatives, Constitutional Referendums and Effects on Various Groups

Direct legislation in the United States is a subject that has received a great deal of attention recently. A large proportion of this attention however has been focused on the potential for direct legislation to harm minority groups. An example of this negative potential can be seen in a group of ballot propositions that were presented to California voters in the 1990s. These initiatives can all be interpreted as targeting various minority groups in California. As California is the state which makes use of the ballot initiative more frequently than any other, this is a cause for concern. There are however several other factors that make it unclear whether direct legislation will more often lead to negative outcomes for minorities. There is also a noticeable effect of direct democracy generally on political participation. Several studies have found a positive correlation between the extent that a state uses ballot initiatives and referenda with political participation indexes such as voting rates. These findings complicate the negative attention that ballot initiatives have recently received.

Martha Thomas Fitzgerald Papers - Accession 273

The Martha Thomas Fitzgerald Papers consist of biographical data, correspondence, minutes, newspaper clippings, memoranda, reports, and photographs (of particular interest are the many photographs of rural S.C. school houses in the 1920s). The collection pertains to Mrs. Fitzgerald’s work with the South Carolina Department of Education, the South Carolina House of Representatives, and her work with various civic organizations such as the Altrusa Club, the League of Women Voters, the Daughters of American Colonists, United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), Business and Professional Women’s Club (BPW), Delta Kappa Gamma, South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation, and the Salvation Army. There is also information on the Status of Women Commission Council on Aging, agriculture, Queens College, University of South Carolina, Winthrop University, Columbia University, public health, South Carolina history, City of Columbia, South Carolina, and Richland County, South Carolina. Correspondents include Strom Thurmond and three letters from John F. Kennedy when he was senator. Mrs. Fitzgerald was the first woman elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in a general election.