Voters should be able to legalize or prohibit major policies through ballot initiatives even when the legislature disagrees. In other words, a ballot initiative lets voters enact or repeal law directly after a petition process.

A mayor should be subject to recall before the next election when a petition reaches a high signature threshold. In other words, a recall election asks voters whether to remove an official before the scheduled end of the term.

Major long-term public borrowing should require approval in a referendum. In other words, public borrowing commits future revenue to repay principal and interest.

Residents should directly vote on a meaningful share of the municipal budget. In other words, participatory budgeting lets residents propose and vote on specified public expenditures.

Complex tax reform should be decided by elected representatives after hearings and amendment rather than by a single up-or-down referendum. In other words, hearings and amendment allow provisions to be revised separately before final passage.

Citizens' views should inform policy, but representatives should retain discretion to change position after reviewing evidence. In other words, representatives would listen to voters but could change their position after studying evidence and would be expected to explain why.

Minority-rights protections should not be submitted to frequent popular referendums. In other words, frequent referendums can repeatedly reopen settled legal status and expose small groups to majority campaigns.

A citywide referendum should be able to overturn a neighborhood board's zoning decision. In other words, the citywide electorate is a higher territorial level than the neighborhood board.

Legislators should negotiate and enact one limited reform at a time rather than put one sweeping package to a direct public vote. In other words, elected representatives would pass smaller negotiated changes instead of asking voters to accept or reject one large package without amendment.

Residents of a municipality should decide a major local land-use plan by binding referendum rather than leave the decision to the national legislature. In other words, a binding referendum gives voters direct decision authority rather than an advisory role.

A newly elected legislature should enact one comprehensive constitutional package quickly rather than divide the changes among separate referendums or smaller bills. In other words, representatives would pass several connected constitutional changes together during one reform period instead of sending each change to voters or passing it separately.

The country’s annual legal immigration level should be set through a binding national referendum rather than left primarily to the legislature. In other words, citizens should vote directly on how many immigrants may be admitted instead of delegating that major choice to representatives.

Legal immigration levels should be set through elected legislatures after hearings and amendment rather than by a single nationwide referendum. In other words, representatives should negotiate categories, labor needs, family rules, and enforcement details instead of asking voters to accept or reject one fixed number.