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it's not common in the US.
these are constitutional amendments we're talking about just like you're used to, highthief.
the other ballot measures *are* monetary issues.
the reason it looks like so much slop is on the ballots is because of this movement to distrust legislative bodies in normal civil life so regular issues have been elevated to constitutional amendment status that would not normally be elsewhere.
the reasons the legislation can't do much about it is not that they don't like hot button issues, but that as soon as wealthy individuals realized they can alter the constitution with enough money and votes then all kinds of shit got shoved into our state constitution. this hamstrings a lot of movement and decisions the legislation can actually make.
also, California's initiative process has been described as hyperdemocratic. It's much more populist friendly than other states, so you see it more often in California than even other states.
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"The theory of a free press is that truth will emerge from free discussion, not that it will be presented perfectly and instantly in any one account." -- Walter Lippmann
"You measure democracy by the freedom it gives its dissidents, not the freedom it gives its assimilated conformists." -- Abbie Hoffman
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