Todd Donovan

Title Authored on Link to edit Content
Big Money For Ballot Initiatives, And Re-Licensing Court

Big Money For Ballot Initiatives: More than $1 million was raised and spent for each of the three citizens' initiatives headed for the November ballot. We get some perspectives.

Re–Licensing Court: Nearly 300,000 Washingtonians have suspended drivers licenses because they didn't…

2011-07-26
Here Comes Nevada

In March this year, five potential presidential candidates kicked off the Iowa caucus season, putting the Hawkeye state once again in the political spotlight.
The Iowa caucus is a magnet for candidates because it is the first caucus in the nation.
New Hampshire is second and South…

2011-07-06
Former congressman, family find new life in Edmonds

Brian Baird is talking, in paragraphs, about marine snails the size of lentils that are in danger of dying out from the increasing acidity of oceans.

He's speaking with authority about how the loss of those pteropods would disrupt up the food chain, and, for a moment, it's as if…

2011-06-22
When is an Initiative Not the Will of the People?

A video of a panel discussion with Western Washington University professor Todd Donovan, initiative activist Tim Eyman, and Hugh Spitzer, an affiliate professor of law at the University of Washington, on Tuesday, May 17 at Bellingham City Hall Council Chambers.

2011-05-23
‘Why Iowa?’ explains state’s key role in nomination process

The jab at Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses is a running joke among politicians who dismiss the event as hokey or inconsequential. But the dig is a bit off-base, according to a new book by the University of Iowa’s Caroline Tolbert and fellow political scientists David Redlawsk of Rutgers…

2011-03-09
Economy sank bonds, schools officials say

The No. 1 reason Mead and Central Valley school district officials think their capital improvement bonds failed Tuesday: the economy.

“I had dozens of discussions with people who have talked about many things that they are dealing with as far as (economic) issues,” said Thomas Rockefeller…

2011-02-10
Effect of new congressional district expected to be mild in Whatcom County

The creation of a new congressional district is likely to shift district boundaries across the state, but the impact on the 2nd District that includes Whatcom County is expected to be minimal.

U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, the Democratic incumbent who won a sixth term by a narrow margin in…

2010-12-22
Census figures bring 10th representative, more clout to Washington state

Washington's presence in Congress is going to get larger and its clout in electing the next president stronger.

That's because the state will gain another seat – its 10th - in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012 based on U.S. Census Bureau figures…

2010-12-22
What do the academics say? Tax and public support

Welcome to the latest in our occasional series highlighting interesting findings from academic research. This time it is a paper from David Brockington (University of Plymouth) and Todd Donovan (Western Washington University) looking at the political impact of increasing taxes.

2010-12-09
EDITORIAL: Restrict initiatives? One professor prefers the Washington system

Washington, Oregon and California have what is known as “direct democracy.” That’s the political scientists’ term for the initiative and referendum. Voters can adopt state laws without help from the legislature.

The West Coast systems are not identical, though. One…

2010-11-18
Subscribe to Todd Donovan