Abstract Does the state ballot initiative process affect American states’ ability to meet widely accepted standards of “good governance?” This question is relevant in many places, but especially in California which makes the heaviest use of the popular initiative. While much recent...

We sense that over the past decades norms have shifted with respect to scholarly writing in political science. Specifically, we believe political scientists are more inclined to write in the active voice and use the first person pronoun (I). Yet we are skeptical whether students are following...

Various commentators have focused on the sharp rise in the proportion of decline to state registrants in California (i.e., those who fail to list a party preference on registration forms), declaring that this signals the ascendancy of independent voters. However, in a prior paper for this...

Purpose – The purpose of this two‐part series is to consider the role of the “scientific method” (SM) in human understanding, questioning both its consistency in actual practice and its reasonableness as a system of philosophy and action. Design/methodology/approach – Part 2 considers...