Sabato on referenda, the Free Lance Star, 5-23-05:
“Now, Virginia is not a populist state. But this rhetoric seems to be taking hold to a degree, dangerously so in my opinion. This is not Jeffersonian Jefferson was violently opposed to anything like initiative and referendum.”
And this:
“Referendum and initiative don’t work very well. It’s controlled by special interests and big money,” Sabato said. “It’s had exactly the opposite effect that the progressives thought it would have. It’s another bad reform idea that sounds good.”
Kilgore says Jefferson got it wrong. I don’t think so.