The Opportunity to Use the Direct Ballot Initiative Process to Amend State Constitutions: A New State-by-State Approach for the Federal Equal Rights Amendment The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:37736745 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA The Opportunity to Use the Direct Ballot Initiative Process to Amend State Constitutions: A New State-by-State Approach for the Federal Equal Rights Amendment. Leanne Littrell DiLorenzo A Thesis in the Field of Government for the Degree of Master of Liberal Arts in Extension Studies Harvard University November 2017 ! ! Copyright 2017 Leanne Littrell DiLorenzo ! Abstract This thesis investigates the plausibility of a new state-by-state strategy of amending state constitutions with the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) via direct ballot initiative helping build momentum to ultimately ratify the federal ERA. I have analyzed the federal ERA’s lack of success over the last ninety-four years to determine there is a dissonance between elected officials and popular opinion concerning the ERA. I have also concluded that one political party has used the ERA and restriction of women’s rights as a political tool to build their base. After my recent experience in initiating and chairing the Oregon ERA ballot initiative, I have determined that a state-by-state strategy could bring the needed awareness and momentum to help ratify the ERA in the U.S. Constitution because it would expand the pool of ERA proponents at a local level. This research determined that sixteen states were possible for a state-by-state strategy and I selected Ohio and Missouri for further research for this thesis. My research found that citizens in Ohio and Missouri support a state ERA via ballot initiative as well as citizens across the nation. ERA proponents in Ohio are receptive to the state-by-state strategy. Further research with ERA proponents in Ohio revealed key differences in the political, cultural and administrative aspects that would play a role in the success of the state-by-state strategy. Bringing state ERA’s directly to the citizens via ballot initiative is the best path forward to also build momentum toward ultimate ratification of the federal ERA. ! Dedication To My Husband John for his incredible support, love and his inspiration to our whole family. To Johnny, Thank you for your love and support, and at your young age for understanding how your leadership can help make this world a better place. To Caroline for your love, support and joyous spirit. To Mom, for letting me be free and independent to explore the world and for being a great role model. "#! ! Acknowledgments Thank you to the Extension School at Harvard. I am so grateful for this incredible program that allowed me to reside in Portland, Oregon but take classes in Boston and online while learning from some of the best professors in the world. Daniel Carpenter, Professor of Government in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Director of Social Sciences at The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, my thesis Director who provided me the freedom to explore while at the same time helped bring a plan that is quite relevant to the present pursuit of women’s constitutional equality. Thank you. Don Ostrowski, Extension School, Harvard University, Thank you for years of inspiration, great notes and for your incredible support. Sarah Powell, Extension School, Harvard University, Thank you for years of support and inspiration. VoteERA.org Board, Thank you for your friendship and for your commitment in helping pass the Oregon ERA, Measure 89. I will forever cherish that wild ride! Thank you to all of you who helped pass the Oregon ERA, to the ERA proponents around the nation, to the ERA proponents in Chillicothe, Ohio for your incredible hard work, and especially to all of you who came before and have dedicated your lives to the pursuit of women’s constitutional equality. #! Table of Contents Dedication………………………………………………………………………………...iv Acknowledgments………………………………………………………………………...v List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………viii I. Introduction to Research…………………………………………………………..1 Research Problem…………………………………………………………………3 Research Objectives and Questions…………………………………………….....3 Research Hypothesis……………………………………………………………....5 Significance of the Research……………………………………………………....6 II. Background of the ERA and Other Movements…………………………………..7 Segment I: The History and Background of the Federal ERA Stage I: 1923 Introduction up to Passage of the ERA ……….………….7 Stage II: The ERA Passed Congress in 1972……………………………..8 Stage III: The ERA Ratification Movement State by State …………..…10 Stage IV: The Preparation for the 1980s…..…………………………….12 Stage V: In-Depth Historical Account of the Eleven Days of ERA Hearings in 1985-1986…………………………………………...14 Stage VI: Two ERA Resolutions Introduced, Republican Support Waning…………………………………………….……………..17 Segment II Stage I: The Road Map of the Oregon ERA……..……………................18 #"! Stage II: State-by-State Movements in Oregon, Ohio and Missouri……24 III. Research Methodology, Analyses, and Limitations Methodology……………….30 Research Limitations…………………………………………………….30 Qualitative Data for Ohio and Missouri.………………………………...31 The Surveys on Ohio and Missouri………………………………...……36 Limitations of the Surveys..……………………………………………..52 Qualitative of the Surveys of Ohio and Missouri.………………………54 Field Study Ohio………..……………………………………………….58 Feedback from the Questionnaires………………………………………64 IV. How ERA Proponents Build Momentum………………………………………..68 V. Ballot Initiatives and the Rules in Ohio………………………………………….70 VI. Research Conclusions...………………………………………………………….71 VII. Works Cited……………………………………………………………………...73 #""! List of Tables Table 1. Summary of the different versions of equality in constitutions……...34-35 Table 2. Survey Question 1: Believe in equality? Ohio and Missouri...............36-37 Table 3. Survey Question 2: Would you support an ERA?................................39-40 Table 4. Survey Question 3: Testing support for language of ERA…………..41-42 Table 5. Survey Question 6: Testing for ballot initiative support……………..43-44 Table 6. Measuring intensity of support………………………………………48-49 Table 7. Survey Question: Comparison on intensity of belief………………..50-51 #"""! ! ! Chapter I Introduction to Research The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a joint resolution to establish women’s equality in the U.S. Constitution. Since 1923, the ERA has been introduced in every session of Congress. The ERA was passed only one time in 1972 and was submitted to the states but fell three states short of ratifying before the deadline. The text of the ERA resolution is: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”1 There are multiple strategies being used today to ratify the federal ERA. One strategy is to continue introducing new ERA resolutions in every Congressional session, which proponents refer to as the “start-over strategy.”2 A more recent strategy introduced in 2011 is the “three state strategy,” which would remove the deadline imposed by Congress so three more states can ratify and has been introduced every session since.3 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 Mary Walton, A Woman’s Crusade: Alice Paul and the Battle for the Ballot (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), 247. Additional Note: “Alice wrote the original version of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in 1923 and revised it in 1943,” 247. 2 (1) Congress. Senate. A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relative to equal rights for men and women. S.J. Res. 6, 115th Cong., 1st sess., Congressional Record, January 20, 2017, Pages s360-s361. Issue: Vol. 163, No. 11 – Daily Edition. To access online: <Congress.gov> or <gpo.gov>. (2) U.S. Congress. House of Representatives. Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relative to equal rights for men and women. H.J. Res. 33, 115th Cong., 1st sess., Congressional Record, January 24, 2017, Page H690. Issue: Vol. 163, No. 13 – Daily Edition. Note: To access online: <Congress.gov> or <gpo.gov>. 3 (1) U.S. Congress. House of Representatives. A joint resolution for removing the deadline for the ratification of the equal rights amendment. H.J. Res. 53, 115th Cong., 1st sess., Congressional Record, January 31, 2017, Page 821. Issue: Vol. 163, No. 16 – Daily Edition. Note: To access online: <Congress.gov> or <gpo.gov>. (2) U.S. Congress. House of Representatives. A joint resolution for removing the deadline for the ratification of the equal rights amendment. S.J. Res. 5, 115th Cong., 1st sess., Congressional Record, January $!! ! ! A third strategy is to continue to seek ratification in additional states even though the congressionally imposed deadline passed in 1982. Nevada is an example of this newer strategy and just recently ratified the federal ERA and was the first state to do so in forty- five years.4 Some may consider Nevada’s ratification an outlier, but proponents consider it part of the resurgence of the ERA and as an indication of momentum. Additional states have passed the ERA in one chamber of their state legislature in the recent past demonstrating further that the ERA is still under consideration. The vision of ERA proponents is to have a U.S. Constitution that after hundreds of years provides equality, which includes protection against sex discrimination. Elected officials in Congress and state legislatures are the decision makers for the ERA to move forward and elected officials have competing interests, so often follow a party platform that may not include the ERA; or they do not share the same priorities as proponents embrace. The state of Oregon passed a state ERA in 2014 via direct ballot initiative, the first ERA to pass in over twenty-years and the first state ERA ever to pass via ballot initiative.