Abstract
Daniel Smith analyzes whether direct democracy favors urban and suburban voters' interests at the expense of rural voters' interests. After reviewing existing academic literature on the (sub)urban rural divide in direct democracy contests, the author performs an empirical analysis of county-level voting data on numerous recent Colorado ballot initiatives. The author concludes that there is a significant regional bias concerning popular votes on ballot initiatives, and that rural communities of interest will likely continue to be tyrannized by (sub)urban majorities in statewide ballot contests
Recommended Citation
Daniel A. Smith,
Representation and the Spatial Bias of Direct Democracy,
78
U. Colo. L. Rev.
1395
(2007).
Available at:
https://scholar.law.colorado.edu/lawreview/vol78/iss4/6