Experts to discuss direct democracy in California and its implications for the nation

As California gears up for another round of ballot initiatives this fall that will range from reform of teacher pay and state pensions to political redistricting, the Bill Lane Center for the Study of the North American West is sponsoring a public forum at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 14, to discuss what direct democracy means for voter participation and empowerment in California and beyond.

The public event at Arrillaga Alumni Center on Galvez Street will feature a discussion led by two of the state's leading political commentators: Bruce Cain, the Robson Professor of Political Science and director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California-Berkeley, and Peter Schrag, former editorial page editor at the Sacramento Bee.

Cain has served as a consultant for state political races and as a redistricting consultant to the U.S. Justice Department, Los Angeles County; the San Diego Citizens' Commission on Redistricting; and the city and county of San Francisco. Schrag, a longtime education writer and editor, is the author of Paradise Lost: California's Experience, America's Future and Final Test: The Battle for Adequacy in America's Schools. Schrag also has taught at Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism and the Graduate School of Public Policy.

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