Politics of plebiscites: The initiative process and Oklahoma’s single subject rule

Abstract

This essay examines recent efforts to effect charter reform in the city of Tulsa through the lens of the single-subject rule which is a constitutional feature of thirteen states that places certain constraints on the use of direct democracy as it relates to the use of the initiative process. The essay explores the broader literature of a single-subject challenge to a citizen petition from a group known as Save Our Tulsa, and then explores the broader literature on the single-subject rule, noting that challenges of vagueness that provides incentives for judicial activism. The essay concludes with a discussion of Cooter and Gilbert's "democratic process theory" as a potential remedy, and offers a hypothetical discussion of how judges could apply and interpret the theory to single- subject challenges in the future.