Date

9-17-2026

Department

Helms School of Government

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy (PhD)

Chair

Michael Scott Robinson

Keywords

cannabis, direct democracy, state policy

Disciplines

Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration

Abstract

As political polarization and distrust in elected representatives increases in American politics, voters are turning to direct democracy as a mechanism to drive policy making. Proponents of both legislative mechanisms and the use of direct democracy argue that their means of policy making is the most democratic. The Founding Fathers chose a representative system to limit the influence of faction and try and prevent Tocqueville’s tyranny of the majority. This study examines both direct democracy and legislative outcomes at the state level through the lens of adult use cannabis sales policy. Adult use cannabis sales were first legalized in the US in Colorado and Washington in 2012 through ballot initiatives. It was not until 2019 that Illinois became the first state to do so through legislative means. Currently 24 states have legalization policy; 23 of these states have an active retail cannabis sales program.

This study measures democratic outcomes through the use of logistic regression. Democratic outcomes have three components; the ability to freely engage in the process, acceptance of the majority opinion as the policy outcome, and adequate protection for the minority. It is this minority protection that differentiates a democratic outcome from tyranny of the majority. The research questions evaluate the ability of counties to opt into or out of adult use cannabis sales. The variables included are geographic counties, votes cast, median age, state policy on tax revenue distribution, urban-rural continuum codes, relationship between medicinal and adult use dispensaries, and religiosity. County level voter data was used in direct democracy states and state senate district data was used in legislative states. The findings of this study suggest that both direct democracy and legislative legalization meet the first two criteria for a democratic outcome by permitting voters to express their preference and accepting the majority opinion, however, direct democracy provided greater protection for the minority and produced a more democratic outcome.

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