Maria Esch is a research analyst at Arizona State University’s Center for Work and Democracy.
Atlanta residents want to vote directly on the proposed police training facility known as Cop City. But the campaign to decide the issue by referendum has faced major backlash from the city government, including several instances of outright sabotage.
Citizen-driven ballot initiatives are a powerful tool in the fight against abortion bans like the one threatening Arizona. State governments can’t be trusted to execute the popular will. We’ll have to do it ourselves.