Amendment Six is on the November ballot here in Missouri. It seeks to concentrate more power in the initiative petition process in a variety of ways. Amendment Six, according to the secretary of state’s office, would:
- expand the initiative and referendum petition process by making it a fundamental right;
- allow courts to revise ballot summaries through lawsuits;
- prohibit the legislature from weakening initiative or referendum powers;
- prohibit the legislature from changing or repealing laws enacted through the initiative process, or passing laws similar to those rejected by referendum, without approval from at least 80% of both chambers; and
- preserve existing majority vote and signature requirements for initiative and referendum petitions.
H.L. Mencken famously said: “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.” If you agree with Mencken, you probably like this proposal. Why wouldn’t Missouri want to move more toward government by direct democracy? Direct democracy is great; just ask Socrates.
More seriously, I think Amendment Six is a very bad idea. I have long opposed greater reliance on initiative petitions and constitutional amendments for state government. As I wrote back in 2008:
We are a republic, not a direct democracy. We elect people to make laws and decisions. If they are not doing a good job, then we should elect different people.
To give one recent example, the Missouri Legislature made significant changes to Proposition A, passed by voters in November 2025. That proposition raised the state minimum wage and instituted a complex system mandating sick leave for employees in Missouri. It was the type of decision that voters in Missouri had (and have) no business weighing in on. The legislature left in place the minimum wage provision but removed the sick leave policies instituted by voters. The approved petition contained pages of legal minutia which if implemented would have imposed tremendous burdens on small businesses and would likely have resulted in people losing their jobs rather than getting paid leave. I am confident that most voters were unaware of the operation of these provisions when they voted yes.
When Missouri legalized marijuana (which I generally support) by initiative petition, there were 38 pages of legal changes and descriptions. The petition made major changes to how sales taxes on marijuana would be charged and collected. That is a decision that elected officials should make, not voters.
If Amendment Six passes, the legislature—which is elected by the people, I remind you—would no longer realistically be able to address errors and bad policies passed via the initiative petition process. For many backers of Amendment Six who wish to replace a conservative legislature with progressive ideas, that is the point. But Amendment Six is a way to empower special interests over elected officials and the voters, and I think that is a very bad idea. (Trust me, I am well aware that special interests also have significant influence on elected officials.)
It has been said many times that direct democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on dinner. Our system of government has many flaws, but it is still the best option for anyone interested in anything approaching limited government.
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