Ballot-measure democracy a notable success in 2012

This being the season of giving, it’s worth looking back at some special gifts from November’s election that received little acknowledgement at the time.

These victories came in campaigns that had no candidates – no Democrats, Republicans or other party designations. Rather, they were ballot initiatives – policy ideas put to a vote of people themselves. This is an exercise in direct democracy that was first proposed by the historic Populist movement of the 1870s. It’s presently available to citizens in 26 states and hundreds of cities – and in this past year, it produced some serious progressi...