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AbstractUse of initiative, referendum and recall in California municipalities aids in extension of principles to state.

The United States has now had a half-century's experience with the process customarily denominated direct legislation. The phrase usually means, and is so used here, the power of the electorate to participate in the law-making function by voting for or against particular proposals submitted at regular or special elections. The proposals may have originated in the legislative assembly or they may have been submitted through the action of the electorate. There are other procedural details in which the processes in particular states may vary, but here the concern is with the general operation of the system. Perhaps more attention has been devoted to that situation in which the legislature has the option of submitting a proposal or not as it sees fit. It is not thought, however, that this detail would cause any serious difference in the conclusions that are drawn here or the suggestions that are made.Direct legislation has been associated with the Progressive movement which was active at the turn into the present century. The movement was a protest against a number of activities which were prevalent among the states at that time. One of the protests alleged that the legislatures had become wholly "corrupt" and that consequently it was necessary to "clean" them up. This line of analysis also postulated that the people were "incorrupt" and that if given the opportunity they would "purify" the political activity of their states and even the nation. Direct legislation was looked upon as one of the most significant means by which these goals were to be accomplished.

Any middle-aged member of the political science guild in a retrospective mood might ponder a question: "What ever happened to direct democracy?" In our halcyon student days the textbooks discussed the direct democracy trinity—initiative, referendum, and recall—described their mechanics and variations, explained their origin in the Progressive Era, told us that the United States, Australia, and Switzerland were leading practitioners of direct democracy, cited a few eccentric referenda, gave the standard pro and con arguments, and essayed some judgments of the relative merits of direct and representative democracy. Latter day collegians may pass through the portals innocent of the existence of the institutions of direct government. Half of the American government texts never mention the subject; the others allocate a paragraph or a page for a casual mention or a barebones explanation of the mechanics.A similar trend has occurred in the literature. Before 1921, every volume of this Review had items on the referendum, five in one volume. Subsequently there have been only seven articles, all but two prior to World War II. "The Initiative and Referendum in Graustark" has ceased to be a fashionable dissertation topic, only four in the last thirty years. All but two of the published monographs antedate World War II.

□ In summary, I have outlined the needs of older blind persons for adequate income, health care, rehabilitation services, housing, and other special services. I have briefly discussed existing federal laws designed to meet these needs and one proposal to meet the urgent need for rehabilitation services. Clearly, all of these programs need drastic improvement in many ways if adequate income and services are to be assured. And equally important, state and local agencies, which must inevitably be the providers of direct services, must forcefully advocate these services and become prepared to provide them.

It is felt that legislation will help to make PO poll data more reliable. The author's own effort to introduce a bill (unsuccessfully) in the 91st US Congress in this context are recounted. Pol'al candidates use polls & sometimes feel abused by polls. One pol'al candidate went to court over a poll-the case of Citizens for Ferency vs Market Opinion Res, Michigan State, 1966. This case is briefly described. It highlighted one particular problem: 'You cannot direct your action, legal or legislative, against a newspaper because of `freedom of the press' considerations.' In this case, the defendant argued for dismissal on the grounds that his method of polling was a `trade secret' & therefore protected against disclosure. The judge granted a temporary injunction, & then dismissed the petition altogether on grounds that the plaintiff could not prove damages. Since then, the type of information called for in Nedzi's Congressional bill has generally appeared with gratifying regularity in published accounts of poll results. The reasons why disclosure is desirable are briefly reviewed. Congress should have hearings focusing on the following: (1) Are PO polls trustworthy? (2) Do PO polls guide opinion as well as measure it? (3) Is some public disclosure necessary as a safeguard against misrepresentation or misunderstanding? (4) Can regulations be devised to handle 'leaked' polls? (5) Do adverse polls cause a 'bandwagon' psychol to build up, damaging the candidate shown to be trailing & drying up contributions? (6) Is legislation desirable? (7) Is policy made on the basis of polls? The Nedzi Bill is summarized. M. Maxfield.

I. The Evolution of Patent Legislation and Practices under Patent Rights, Nationally an Internationally -- I. Society and the Inventor -- II. The Role of Patents Today -- III. The Development of an International Patent System -- II. The Effects of the International Patent System on Developing Countries and Possible Changes of the System ror their Benefit -- I. The Status of Developing Countries in Patent Matters -- II. The Direct Effects of the International Patent System on Developing Countries -- III. Indirect Effects of the International Patent System -- IV. The Positions of various International Organizations -- V. The scope for Remedies within the existing System -- VI. Possible Remedies Outside the Present System -- Conclusions -- Abbreviations used in the Bibliography.