A Government by the People: Direct Democracy in America, 1890-1940

Between 1898 and 1918, many American states introduced the initiative, referendum, and recall — known collectively as direct democracy. Most interpreters have seen the motives for these reform measures as purely political, but Thomas Goebel demonstrates that the call for direct democracy was deeply rooted in antimonopoly sentiment.

Frustrated with the governmental corruption and favoritism that facilitated the rise of monopolies, advocates of direct democracy aimed to check the influence of ...