People who are upset with the way they are being governed have taken to the streets by the tens of thousands in some of the world’s greatest cities — London, Paris, Hong Kong and Seoul. It is impressive but not, always, effective.
In another of the world’s greatest cities — Salt Lake City — a handful of people from across the political spectrum have launched an effort that is less spectacular but could lead to a significant achievement for democracy and good government.
Hard on the heels of the Utah Legislature’s passage of a sad hash of bad ideas that is being portrayed as tax reform, a bipartisan group of activists and concerned citizens activated the state law that allows acts of the Legislature to be beaten back through a process that starts with the circulation of petitions and could end with a vote of the people in November.