Contestatory Democracy and the Interpretation of Popular Initiatives

Abstract

This brief contribution to a symposium on "The Changing Landscape of Election Law" focuses on the question of how successful ballot measures should be interpreted when disputes arise regarding their meaning or scope. I rely on recent insights from civic republican theory to argue that the interpretation of popular initiatives should be understood as a form of contestatory democracy. This vision of statutory interpretation demonstrates the need to adopt certain substantive canons or structural reforms, which would promote freedom as non-domination and thereby improve the democratic legitimacy of the ballot initiative process.

Keywords: statutory interpretation, direct democracy, ballot initiatives, civic republican theory, deliberative democracy