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California Initiative Review (CIR)

About This Journal

The California Initiative Review (CIR) is a non-partisan, objective Web publication which provides comprehensive, independent analyses of California Ballot initiatives and related issues. The review is produced each year by the Capital Center for Law & Policy at our California Initiative Forum.

At every statewide election in California, voters make choices about candidates and ballot propositions. Statewide ballot measures, including initiatives and referendums, are a form of direct democracy and allow voters to have a voice in the laws that will govern them.

In an effort to aid voters in exercising their choice, students in the California Initiative Seminar course at McGeorge study and analyze all statewide ballot measures for each California election. Their objective analyses are published here as the California Initiative Review (CIR).

In each analysis, you will find an executive summary of the report, followed by a section describing the changes that the proposition will make to existing law. Each analysis also details any other consequences that might result from the change in law, any drafting issues with the proposition language, and any anticipated constitutional challenges if the proposition passes. Finally, the analysis presents the policy considerations advanced by both the proponents and opponents of the measure.

The editors of the CIR publish the analyses of current measures in advance of the election date in an effort to give voters ample opportunity to consider the issues. Past initiative analyses and reports are published on a continuing basis.