Gauging the Effect of Special Election

October 31, 2005

By Gilien Silsby

Scholars, journalists and practitioners will discuss the potential impact of the California Special Election at a Nov. 1 conference sponsored by the USC Gould School of Law.

The half-day symposium will unveil some of the most recent scholarly research on the country's initiative process and the policy implications for education, campaign finance, redistricting and California state politics.

A second panel moderated by Nick Goldberg, op-ed editor of the Los Angeles Times, will look at all sides of the heated initiative battle and what the initiative explosion means for state government.

The California Special Election will give voters a chance to change some of the most fundamental features of politics and governance in the state, analysts said.

“As this critical election approaches, the symposium will look at what the election portends for California, the national trendsetter in ballot box lawmaking,” said John Matsusaka, president of the Initiative and Referendum Institute, which is sponsoring the conference with the USC-Caltech Center for the Study of Law and Politics.

“Throughout the nation, lawmakers and voters are watching this election,” Matsusaka said. “Whatever happens in California could have a major impact on the long-run development of American democracy. We have brought together a stellar panel of people who are watching how California's initiative battle will impact democracy here and across the nation.”

The first set of panelists will discuss “New Research on Ballot Box Governance.” Moderated by Dan Rodriguez, professor of law at UC San Diego and a visiting professor at USC Law, the panel includes Joe Mathews, staff writer at the Los Angeles Times; Jonathan Katz, political science professor at Caltech; Richard Seder, director of the Education Policy Program at the USC California Policy Institute; and UCLA professor John de Figueiredo.

The second panel, offering a roundtable discussion on the broad implications of the election, includes Kam Kuwata, a democratic consultant; Joel Fox, co-chair of Citizens to Save California; Elizabeth Garrett and R. Michael Alvarez, both affiliated with the USC-Caltech Center for Law and Politics; Judy Muller of ABC News and the USC Annenberg School for Communication; and Dane Waters, founder of the Initiative and Referendum Institute.

The conference will take place in the James Ackerman Auditorium at the USC Gould School of Law.

New scholarly research on the initiative process will be offered from 9:30 to 11 a.m. A discussion on the use of initiatives and the California Special Election will run from 11:10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

For further information, contact Betsey Hawkins, program manager of the USC-Caltech Center for the Study of Law and Politics, at (213) 821-5438. For media inquiries, contact Gilien Silsby at (213) 740-9690.