Researching Initiatives, Referenda & Recall Elections in Calif.

Skyline College
Library

Researching Direct Democracy:
Initiatives, Referenda & Recall Elections in California
Research Assignment for PLSC 301 AA & JA (Masare)

Books & Articles on Reserve
Online Catalog for Finding Books
Databases for Finding Magazine, Journal & Newspaper Articles
Selected Web Sites

Recommended Books & Articles on Reserve at the Check Out Desk:

California Government and Politics Today by Mona Field & Charles P. Sohner. Call number: JK8716 .F54 2002
California, Its Government and Politics by Michael Ross. Call number: JK8716 .R67 2000
California : The Politics of Diversity by David G. Lawrence. Call number: JK8716 .L39 2000
Politics & Government in California by Bernard L. Hyink & David H. Provost. Call number: JK8716 .H95 1996
Paradise Lost: California's Experience, America's Future by Peter Schrag. Call number: JK8716 .S37 1998
"Initiatives: True Democracy or Bad Lawmaking?" by Kenneth Jost. Editorial Research Reports, Aug. 17, 1990.

Using the Catalog to Look for Library Books:

The PLS Online Catalog is the online catalog to find books in Skyline Library and in all libraries in the Peninsula Library Sytem.

Type in the name of your topic in the search box and click the Search button.
In the box titled "ANY WORD(S)- TITLE, AUT, SUBJ",
click the down arrow, scroll down and select "SUBJECT Headings (exact)".
For researching direct democracy in California, try using the following subject headings:
- Referendum -- United States
- Democracy -- United States
- Political participation -- United States
- California - politics and government
Limit your search to books at Skyline by clicking on the Limit button at the right side of the page and then scroll down to near the bottom and click on Skyline College Library and then click OK.

Magazine, Journal & Newspaper Databases (to access articles):

InfoTrac OneFile Database: excellent general periodical database.
Available from off-campus--as long as you have a library card (library card bar code number is required from off campus).

To search only for articles that include the full text (the whole article) in the database, check the "articles with text" box under "Limit the current search" (below the text entry box)
To narrow searches, combine concepts with AND.
Once you find one article specifically on your topic, click on any relevant subject headings (near the bottom of the article page) to find more articles on that topic.
Click here for a set of articles from InfoTrac OneFile on California initiatives, referenda and recall elections

InfoTrac Newspapers Database: newspaper database including articles from the S.F. Chronicle, N.Y. Times, L.A. Times, & 7 other national & international newspapers.
Available from off-campus--as long as you have a library card (library card bar code number is required from off campus).

To search only for articles that include the full text (the whole article) in the database, check the "articles with text" box under "Limit the current search" (below the text entry box)
Try using the same search words as shown above for the OneFile database
To narrow searches, combine concepts with AND
Click here for a set of articles from InfoTrac Newspapers on California initiatives, referenda and recall elections

Proquest Newspapers database: a database of full-text articles from many of the most important newspapers in the country--New York Times, S. F. Chronicle, S. F. Examiner, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, L. A. Times & Christian Science Monitor--as well as some regional papers from Northern California. Only available from on campus.

Recommended Web Sites:

Article 2 of the California Constitution: See Section 8 (Initiative), Section 9 (Referendum) and Section 13 (Recall).

How the Initiative Process Works: Documents, charts and data from the National Conference of State Legislatures.

California Initiative Information (from the Office of the California Secretary of State)

The California Initiative Process: A Select Bibliography http://www.igs.berkeley.edu./library/bibliog/initiative.html: List of print sources and web links prepared for the conference, "Proposition 13 and Its Progeny: Is California Suffering from an Excess of Democracy?" held at the University of California Institute of Governmental Studies, April 1-2, 1998. It is in two parts: books and articles published in the past ten years, and Internet resources.

Procedure for Recall of State and Local Officials http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/recall.pdf: prepared by the Office of the California Secretary of State, revised January, 2001. In .pdf format (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.)

A Guide to Recall for County, School District, Special District and Local Judicial Offices http://regrec.co.la.ca.us/voter/recounts_recalls_ini.htm: by the Los Angeles County Office of the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk.

California Fair Political Practices Commission