Ballot initiatives: A little liberal comfort WILL rappers be the saviours of progressive politics? An unlikely idea, but whereas Democrats lost almost everywhere on November 4th, in California, the state's voters enthusiastically passed Proposition 47, which reduces penalties for some criminal offences to misdemeanours. That was supported by Jay Z, who spoke out in favour of the measure on stage with his wife Beyoncé in August. In Alaska, meanwhile, fans of Snoop Dogg have a concert to look forward to: in September he promised he would perform in the state if it voted to legalise the recreational use of cannabis. The voters duly obliged. Reassuringly, the influence of Mr Z and Mr Dogg may be overstated. Voters in Oregon also opted to legalise pot smoking even without the offer of a concert. Alaskans also voted to raise the minimum wage, as did people in Arkansas, Nebraska and South Dakota. Those are all states in which Republican candidates, all of them either opposed to or ambivalent about a higher minimum wage, won Senate seats. As the Democrats" grip on Congress and statehouses has loosened, ballot initiatives are among the few things left for liberals to smile about. Of the ballot initiatives that passed, California's prison-emptying measure may be the most significant. As well as from Jay Z, support came from Newt Gingrich, a Republican who in a different era advocated the death penalty for some drug smugglers. It is the second ballot initiative to pass in California intended to ease overcrowding in the state's many prisons: in 2012, voters also chose to loosen the state's controversial three-strikes law (which was itself approved by ballot in 1994). That Californian voters, admittedly a liberal bunch, are willing to vote to go easier on offenders suggests that now crime has fallen, the growth of its prison population may begin to reverse too. In Washington state, campaigners chalked up a victory for gun control. A measure which requires a background check for all gun sales - including private sales and sales at gun shows - passed with 60% of the vote. A rival proposal, which would have banned many background checks and was supported by the NRA, failed - though by a smaller margin, suggesting that at least a few voters opted for both. Support from Bill Gates helped: his foundation gave $1m to the group advocating the change. Not all was great news for liberal campaigners hoping to bypass politicians. In Nevada, a proposal to tax businesses to pay for an increase in education spending - the state's rapidly-expanding schools are badly underfunded - was soundly defeated. Unsurprisingly, businesses opposed to the measure put up more money than teachers" unions. But social conservatives, whose influence dominated ballot initiatives in the 1990s and 2000s, had a harder time too. Colorado's proposed amendment to define a fetus as a person - with the aim of banning all abortions in the state - was defeated for a third time. So too was a similar amendment in North Dakota. Had either passed, the courts would have struck them down. Only in Tennessee did a pro-life effort succeed: there, voters amended the state constitution to give politicians more power to limit access to abortion. Initiatives are less common than they were - around 150 this year, down sharply since the 1990s. Campaigns are costly, and it costs more to put them on the ballot in the first place - states have learned from California's experience that too many ballots can lead to contradictory results, such as votes for higher spending and lower taxes. Still, if gridlock continues in Washington, DC, expect more direct democracy.