Great Plains Studies, Center for
Date of this Version
1992
Abstract
In 1898 South Dakota became the first state to amend its constitution to give its citizens the option of the initiative-in which a given percentage of voters may propose a law, which then must be approved at the polls-and the referendum- in which a law proposed either by initiative or by the lawmaking body must then be approved by a given percentage of voters. These measures, also known as direct legislation, were seen by both voters and legislators as a way to reform democracy by making it more responsive to the people. Exactly what impetus propelled South Dakota to enact these reforms at this time, however, has been a matter of some dispute among historians.
Comments
Published in GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY 12:3 (Summer 1992). Copyright © 1992 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln.