A campaign in Michigan to end partisan gerrymandering in 2018, is part of a legacy of ballot initiatives dating back to the 1800s. In this episode, Jenna lays out the basics of the initiative, how it caught on in the United States, and the pros and cons that she will explore throughout the series.

This episode tells the story of one of the state’s most notorious initiatives, the Three Strikes proposition, as well as the campaigns to reform and repeal it — all of which were fought with ballot initiatives. We also explore the history of initiatives in California and why the state has, in the words of one expert, “gone crazy for propositions.”

We travel to what some have described as “the most Southern city in the North” to explore a city-level ballot initiative that focuses on the rights of LGBTQ people. Learn how Christian organizations hoped to use Cincinnati as a testing ground to pass similar ballot initiatives in other cities and states.

An online community of adoptees fight for their birth records in 1990s Oregon - framing the issue around civil rights instead of parent/child relationships. This episode explains how this initiative addressed the social stigma around adoption and addresses the longstanding debates around the power of ballot initiatives.

A referendum on the death penalty in Nebraska draws our attention to some of the thornier questions about direct democracy. Until now, we’ve explored how people have come together to make changes their lawmakers won’t, but in this episode, we explore another pivotal angle of ballot initiatives.

By design, ballot initiatives require coalitions that cross party lines to secure the votes needed to win. Some campaign organizers view this rule as an opportunity to create new political coalitions and break through polarization. In this episode, we examine how the current era of political reformers ushers in alternatives to stalled legislation by going beyond party lines and bringing the issues straight to voters.

State legislatures across the country have taken notice of how ballot initiatives are creating political change. And now they're trying to make it more difficult for citizens to create and pass a ballot measure. Learn what’s happening and how the democracy reform movement is stepping up to protect the initiative.

The final episode of the season explores whether ballot initiatives can withstand the challenges they’re up against, and some groups are looking to initiatives as a way to strengthen American democracy.

Kelly Hall, executive director of the Fairness Project, joins us to discuss the organization’s work on ballot measure campaigns across the U.S. and what issues may find their way to the ballot in upcoming elections.

In this bonus episode, we hear from Roger Asterino, a former Cincinnati city employee whose story was at the heart of the anti-LGBTQ ballot initiative in the 1990s. Roger shares the story of the harassment he and others received from a coworker at the City of Cincinnati, how the Issue 3 ballot measure impacted his life and work, and his decision to leave Cincinnati.