Conclusion
Prop 14 makes a radical contribution to the democratic character of CA elections in several ways.
First, as I have mentioned, it takes away some of the special privileges formerly had by the political parties. They can no longer control the candidate selection for primaries, or for the general election. Secondly, it opens the doors to all registered voters in primary elections. Independent minded voters no longer have to sell out their integrity when they register, just so that they can vote in the primary election. Third, since parties can no longer control who will get on the ballot, the process of candidate selection is open to the people of California themselves. They can determine, by collecting signatures and signing petitions, who will qualify for a spot on the primary ballot. Big Money need not be an advantage, because having more volunteers to do the work can accomplish the job. Prop 14 inadvertently has increased the import of the pre-primary contest; that is, the struggle to get on the ballot.
With a greater variety of ideas and opinions being expressed in the primary campaigns, elections will become more of an education to the electorate, which is at it should be in a democracy.
Regrettably, Prop 14 leaves the challenge of democratizing presidential elections to the future. Here, the duopoly continues to dominate the process with closed primaries. While independent candidates are give a token shot at getting on the ballot, the two parties will continue to qualify their candidates with ease. But this, too, can be democratized by the voters.
Democracy puts a lot of responsibility on the people for their self-government. In the past, the duopoly grabbed the responsibility of candidate selection for itself, and gorged itself with special privileges after the election. Now that power has been taken away, but it can be lost again if we the people fail to seize the opportunity Prop 14 has given us. The structure of two-party domination has been changed, now its momentum must be changed. US history shows that high energy third parties have had great success in the past, sometimes causing major party realignments. That can be done again. For we third party identifiers, it will now be our own diffusion of energy that is the cause of our lack of success, and not the structure of the electoral system. But if we can unite, we can radically change the complexion of Sacramento.
William J. Kelleher, Ph.D.*
*For further discussion of these issues, see my earlier OEN article on
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