ABSTRACT
On November 7, 2006 Michigan voters cast ballots to ban affirmative action programs in the state. That same day, citizens of Colorado voted to amend their constitution to prohibit recognition of same-sex marriages and Arizona voters passed a constitutional amendment to require virtually all government actions to be conducted in English. Each of these policies restricts the rights of minority groups based on their race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or national origin. Each policy was enacted through citizen legislation rather than through the traditional legislative process. Unfortunately for minority groups in the United States, these three states were not alone in passing policies that restrict minority rights through direct democracy processes like ballot initiatives and referenda. In all, twelve ballot measures in ten states addressed the rights of minority groups in 2006. Eleven of these measures resulted in an anti-minority outcome. These policy enactments and other similar outcomes resulting from citizen legislation in recent years have raised concerns about the security of the rights of minority groups in states with direct democracy institutions. This book examines this matter through a series of analyses of contemporary policies that directly affect minority groups.
