An Essay on Immigration Politics, Popular Democracy, and California's Proposition 187: The Political Relevance and Legal Irrelevance of Race

Authors

Kevin R. Johnson

Abstract

My contribution to the Symposium considers how Proposition 187 fits into the peculiar politics of immigration, which in many ways are without parallel. The hope is to shed light on the dynamics culminating in the passage by the California electorate of a measure that in time may prove to be a watershed in immigration policymaking. In analyzing Proposition 187, this Article generally considers the risks posed to discrete and insular minorities by the initiative process and the difficulties in mounting legal challenges under current constitutional doctrine to democratic subordination of minority interests through initiatives. It raises serious questions about whether lawmaking by initiative fits properly into the constitutional scheme.

First Page

629

Recommended Citation

Kevin R. Johnson, Symposium, An Essay on Immigration Politics, Popular Democracy, and California's Proposition 187: The Political Relevance and Legal Irrelevance of Race, 70 Wash. L. Rev. 629 (1995).
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/wlr/vol70/iss3/3