Professor Shanske Speaks to CalMatters About Prop. 5

Professor Darien Shanske spoke to CalMatters on Oct. 29 about California’s Proposition 5, aimed at lowering the percentage of votes needed for local government bonds to pass from the current two-thirds majority to a 55% majority.

“Our norm as a society is that every vote is equal,” Shanske told CalMatters. “A supermajority rule is a deviation from that norm. It allows one-third of voters to essentially block what a large majority would like to do.”

Californians appear to have rejected Proposition 5 in the Nov. 5 election, however. Tallies as of Nov. 7 showed the proposition losing 56% to 44%. 

Darien Shanske is a professor of law at UC Davis. His academic interests include taxation, particularly state and local taxation, local government law, public finance, and political theory, particularly jurisprudence.