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111-610: The process and system for a national initiative was proposed in the early 2000s by the late Mike Gravel , a former U.S. Senator, and the Democracy Foundation, a non-profit non-governmental organization . The set of proposals, referred to by its proponents as the National Initiative for Democracy (and later renamed National Citizens Initiative for Democracy in 2012), gathered endorsements from author, activist and former independent candidate for President of

222-648: A Holy Cross nun , but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith. He studied for one year at Assumption College , a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield. Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority. Around May 1951, Gravel saw that he

333-420: A guaranteed minimum income , entitling poor families to up to $ 6,300 a year (the equivalent of $ 42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation). He subsequently voted for a "work bonus" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages. In 1969, Gravel

444-833: A head of state , judge , royal figure , or other relevant authorities , according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution , Legislative laws , or customary laws of a government . In Belgium , a decree is a law of a community or regional parliament , e.g. the Flemish Parliament . Jus novum ( c.  1140 -1563) Jus novissimum ( c.  1563 -1918) Jus codicis (1918-present) Other Sacraments Sacramentals Sacred places Sacred times Supra-diocesan/eparchal structures Particular churches Juridic persons Philosophy, theology, and fundamental theory of Catholic canon law Clerics Office Juridic and physical persons Associations of

555-577: A taxicab , and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust . During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. Gravel "decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place," and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office . Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played

666-470: A Democrat again in the 2020 election , in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute . Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts , one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel. His parents were part of

777-573: A Senator has to supplement his income". The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement. In January 1972, Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie , hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after). In April 1972, Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry

888-462: A Senator. While it's stated that former presidential candidate Ralph Nader supports the initiative, this assertion requires proper citation. A proposal for a national initiative is featured as part of the plot in the 1977 film Billy Jack Goes to Washington , the fourth and last of the Billy Jack series. In the film, Billy Jack is appointed a United States Senator. Seeking to keep him out of

999-624: A Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant . Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City , where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York "flat broke" and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving

1110-517: A Third Division seat in House of Representatives of the territorial legislature. (This was one of the four administrative divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time.) Under the slogan "Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity", he lost. At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood . Gravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by

1221-534: A bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975, he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974, Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader 's organization in opposing nuclear power. Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger 's July 1971 secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with

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1332-605: A deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy. Gruening had been one of only two senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson 's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, "all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I

1443-481: A general sense all documents promulgated by an ecumenical council can be called decrees, in a specific sense some of these documents, as at the Second Vatican Council , were called more precisely constitutions or declarations. Canon 29 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law defines general decrees: General decrees, by which a competent legislator makes common provisions for a community capable of receiving

1554-525: A law, are true laws and are regulated by the provisions of the canons on laws. The Holy See uses decrees from the pope such as papal bull , papal brief or motu proprio as legislative acts. The word décret , literally "decree", is an old legal usage in France and is used to refer to executive orders issued by the French President or Prime Minister . Any such order must not violate

1665-504: A license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship , and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life. Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, Gravel quickly became part of

1776-483: A member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not. Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian . Gravel used his counter-intelligence experience to choose a midnight transfer in front of the Mayflower Hotel in the center of Washington, D.C. Over

1887-630: A process for national initiative. Mike Gravel Maurice Robert " Mike " Gravel ( / ɡ r ə ˈ v ɛ l / grə- VELL ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician and writer who represented Alaska in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party . He ran for president twice: in 2008 , and 2020 . Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts , by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in

1998-695: A property developer on the Kenai Peninsula . During 1965 and 1966, he served as the Speaker of the House, surprising observers by winning that post. Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise. Gravel denied later press charges that he had promised but not delivered on other committee chairmanships. As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on

2109-633: A renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held. Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension. Gravel's attempts to stop the draft had failed (notwithstanding Gravel's later claims that he had stopped or shortened the draft, taken at face value in some media reports, during his 2008 presidential campaign). Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of

2220-640: A role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad , working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage -to- Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring

2331-519: A working partnership between the People and their elected representatives. The framers of the National Initiative for Democracy believe the law-making branch of government (Congress) no longer effectively represents the will of the American people. They believe as America continues to grow and diversify , Congress can only become less and less effective in representing the masses ; that the gap between

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2442-468: Is a decree inasmuch as these documents are legislative acts of the pope . In this sense, the term is quite ancient. The Roman Congregations were formerly empowered to issue decrees in matters which come under their particular jurisdiction but were forbidden from continuing to do so under Pope Benedict XV in 1917. Each ecclesiastical province and also each diocese may issue decrees in their periodical synods within their sphere of authority. While in

2553-520: Is a presidential decree. Such an ukaz has the force of law, but may not alter the Russian constitution or the regulations of existing laws, and may be superseded by laws passed by the Federal Assembly . The Government of Russia can also issue decrees formally called Decisions ( Постановления Postanovleniya or Orders ( Распоряжения Rasporyazheniya ) and may not contradict

2664-545: Is a proposed Amendment to the US Constitution that recognizes the people's right to make laws, and an accompanying Federal Law that spells out the procedures for the people to develop and vote on laws. This proposed law making is supplemental to those means existing and established through the institutions of representative government (i.e. Congress and the President). If enacted, the proposed Amendment and

2775-536: Is neither a government held nor a government sanctioned election. As of this writing, there is currently no official method laid out in the United States Constitution for the people to hold such an election. However, the authority for effecting such a constitutional reform is proposed to derive from: The National Initiative for Democracy, primarily associated with Mike Gravel, seeks broad public support. Gravel founded The Democracy Foundation and

2886-554: Is premised with the fact that ' people's sovereignty ' implemented the US political system by direct decree in the United States Constitution . It cites that document's opening clause, " We the people " as evidence of the same premise. By proposed logical extension, having legally created the government of the United States the people may alter it at any time in similar fashion. The concept of direct decree further posits that although

2997-544: The Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts. Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district. Gravel made it through the primary, and in November eight Republicans and six Democrats were elected to

3108-550: The Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The "Gravel Edition" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn , and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Beacon Press then was subjected to an FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this

3219-550: The French Constitution or Civil Code , and a party has the right to request an order be annulled in the French Council of State . Orders must be ratified by Parliament before they can be modified into legislative Acts. Special orders known as décret-loi , literally "decree-act" or "decree-law", usually considered an illegal practice under the 3rd and 4th Republic, were finally abolished and replaced by

3330-728: The French National Assembly , the calling of new legislative elections, and the grant of the title Marshal of France . Decrees are published in the Journal Officiel de la République Française ( French Gazette ). According to clause 77 of the Italian Constitution , The Government may not, without an enabling act from the Houses [of Parliament], issue decrees having the force of ordinary law. When in extraordinary cases of necessity and urgency

3441-733: The National Initiative , Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States . His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party, and joined the Libertarian Party , to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform . He ran for president as

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3552-559: The Pentagon Papers . The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public. Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright , George McGovern , Charles Mathias , and Pete McCloskey – about publishing

3663-649: The Philadelphia II corporation and played a significant role in drafting the Amendment and Act's text. This draft was publicly reviewed at the Democracy Symposium in February 2002. The initiative's aim to establish a national ballot initiative through popular vote is one among several efforts pursued by Gravel, including previous attempts to promote constitutional amendments during his tenure as

3774-527: The Quebec diaspora , and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression , speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him "Mike" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education. Gravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic . There he struggled, due to what he later said

3885-585: The U.S. Supreme Court , which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign). In 1971, Gravel voted against the Nixon administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system, the Safeguard Program , having previously vacillated over

3996-485: The United States Capitol Building ; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber. By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, "It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with

4107-668: The constitution , the Supreme Leader delineates the general policies of the Islamic Republic. After the Russian Revolution , a government proclamation of wide meaning was called a "decree" ( декрет dekret ); a more specific proclamation was called an указ ukaz . Both terms are usually translated as 'decree'. According to the Russian Federation's 1993 constitution , an ukaz

4218-497: The peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy , which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971, Gravel sponsored

4329-512: The "tide of socialism" had to be stopped. He elaborated at another stop, "It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance." The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington D.C. , on Tax Day , April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers: dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with

4440-531: The City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy , and Gravel was forced out in 1962. With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for

4551-612: The Constitution was written. The National Initiative for Democracy believes direct citizen participation in law-making is the sovereign right of all Americans and should no longer be the exclusive right of Congress (at the federal level). Since it does not seek to abolish Congress, the States' Constitutional right to a representative form of government stated in Article I , Section 1, remains unaffected. The Supreme Court has recognized

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4662-522: The Constitutional right of citizens to make laws at the state level but oddly, not at the federal. The National Initiative believes most of the existing state initiative processes have the right idea but are terribly flawed. NI4D designed their proposal to specifically address those shortcomings. Their proposal encompasses a unique, multi-step, deliberative process, by which citizens can initiate and enact laws. A process they believe has eliminated, to

4773-541: The Council of State. There exists a procedure for the Prime Minister to issue ordinances in such areas, but this procedure requires Parliament's express consent (see Art 38 of the 1958 Constitution). Orders issued by the Prime Minister take two forms: Sometimes, people refer to décrets en Conseil d'État improperly as décrets du Conseil d'État . This would imply that it is the Council of State that makes

4884-532: The Democracy Act. It is also responsible for fundraising and educational efforts. The Philadelphia II Corporation was established separately to administer the national vote the organization hopes to use to enact the proposed legislation through the method of 'direct decree by the People'. Direct decree The process of direct decree is the legal basis proposed by The Democracy Foundation with which it hopes to sustain its proposed enactments. Direct decree

4995-478: The February 1970 report of the Gates Commission. The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued. The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under

5106-569: The Government adopts provisional measures having the force of law, it must on the same day present said measures for confirmation to the Houses which, even if dissolved, shall be extraordinally summoned for this purpose and shall convene within five days. The decrees lose effect from their inception if they are not confirmed within sixty days from their publication. The Houses may however regulate by law legal relationships arising out of unconfirmed decrees. The effectiveness for sixty days produces

5217-476: The House from the district, with Gravel finishing eighth overall and third among with Democrats, with 8,174 votes. Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns. Gravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from January 28, 1963, to January 22, 1967, winning reelection in 1964. In his first term, he served as a minority member on two House committees: Commerce, and Labor and Management. He co-authored and sponsored

5328-539: The Jaycees, often dressing for events as Paul Revere . Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position. The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice. The tour's general message was an urging of "lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income". At several stops Gravel stated that

5439-648: The Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam . Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record. In 1970, Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish

5550-631: The P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council . He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971. Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970, Gravel

5661-467: The People themselves, acting apart from ordinary government, from exercising their legal right to alter or abolish government, via the proper legal procedures. Article V presupposes this background right of the People, and does nothing to interfere with it. It merely specifies how ordinary government can amend the constitution without recurring to the people themselves, the true and sovereign source of all lawful power." The National Initiative for Democracy

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5772-634: The Select Small Business Committee and instead a member of the Finance Committee , and by 1977, he was chair of that body's Subcommittee on Energy and Foundations. By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents. By his own admission, Gravel was too new and "too abrasive" to be effective in the Senate by the usual means of seniority-based committee assignments or negotiating deals with other senators, and

5883-405: The Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles. In retrospective assessment, University of Alaska Anchorage history professor Stephen Haycox said, "Loose cannon is a good description of Gravel's Senate career. He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do." In

5994-412: The Senate on a day when a controversial energy bill is being voted on, another Senator suggests he meet with a grassroots group that day instead. The group is working to pass a national initiative and Billy Jack becomes convinced of their cause. Billy Jack ends up filibustering in the Senate giving a long speech supporting a national initiative. Mike Gravel and the National Initiative are featured in

6105-543: The Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States decision ruled in favor of the newspapers and publication in the Times and others resumed. In July 1971, Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published. Gravel, too, wanted to privately publish the portion of the papers he had read into the record, believing that "immediate disclosure of

6216-400: The U.S. constitution are the only ways in which the constitution can be amended. The argument for bypassing Article V is that Article V dictates the means which representatives can amend the constitution but does not expressly forbid amendment by the popular vote of the People in its wording. This notion is supported by constitutional scholar Akhil Reed Amar : "...Article V nowhere prevents

6327-594: The United States Ralph Nader ; linguist, philosopher, political activist and author Noam Chomsky ; author of The Tao of Democracy and co-director of the non-profit Co-Intelligence Institute Tom Atlee ; and socialist thought-leader and author of A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn . The National Initiative for Democracy (NI4D) is a proposed constitutional amendment (Democracy Amendment) which recognizes

6438-506: The act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Gravel was the chief architect of the law that created a regional high school system for rural Alaska; this allowed Alaska Natives to attend schools near where they lived instead of having to go to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the lower 48 states. During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work. With Gottstein and Carr's backing, he became quite successful as

6549-455: The assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place. Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress. By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in

6660-419: The authority of the United States Congress is limited by the constitution, the authority of the people is inherently sovereign and above the authority of the state. By such a theory any measure voted upon and approved by the popular majority of the people is posited to be legally binding and authoritative over all other law. NI4D does not accept the long-held belief that the two ways spelled out in Article V of

6771-450: The civic scene there. By October 1957, he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958, he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization. He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958, his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year. By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for

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6882-468: The contents of these papers will change the policy that supports the war". After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4, he reached agreement with Beacon Press , the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association , of which Gravel was a member. Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the "Senator Gravel Edition", which studies from Cornell University and

6993-417: The decree, whereas the power of decreeing is restricted to the president or prime minister; the role of the administrative sections of the council is purely advisory. Decrees may be classified into: Only the prime minister may issue regulatory or application decrees. Presidential decrees are generally nominations or exceptional measures where the law mandates a presidential decree, such as the dissolution of

7104-470: The delegates on the floor was lost and McGovern's speech was pushed to 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver . Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he

7215-420: The documentaries Dear America , directed by Nico Holthaus , and It's Time We Talked . The former United States Senator Mike Gravel in 2006 declared his candidacy for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States motivated primarily by his ardent support for direct democracy and the National Initiative proposal with which he is closely associated. Steyer 's platform included creating

7326-463: The documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution , but all had refused. Instead, Ellsberg allowed Times reporter Neil Sheehan to take notes of the Papers, but Sheehan disobeyed, copying them and taking the copies by plane to Washington, then New York, for organization and publication. The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on

7437-410: The draft." A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension. On June 18 Gravel announced again his intention to counteract that by filibustering the renewal legislation, defending the practice against those who associated it only with blocking civil rights legislation. The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only

7548-422: The effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety; he then made a personal appeal to President Richard Nixon to stop the test. After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on

7659-410: The effects immediately, giving rights or expectations whose legal basis was precarious, especially when the conversion law never intervened. In Portugal there are several types of decree ( Portuguese : decreto ) issued by the various bodies of sovereignty or by the bodies of local government of autonomous regions . As of 2022 , there are the following types of decree: According to article 110 of

7770-613: The elite decision-making few and the ever diversifying average citizen can only be bridged through direct citizen participation in governing. They contend that while "voting out" representatives from office or enacting term limits is a good idea, those actions do not address the basic, fundamental flaw of governing an enormous, increasingly heterogeneous population by a tiny, elite few. They believe that recent technological advances have made it possible for all Americans to voice their opinions on policies and laws which affect their lives; technology that did not exist in 18th century America, when

7881-416: The enactment of a Constitutional amendment and a related Federal statute . If enacted, the amendment would both assert and codify the people's right to make laws, and outline the structure of the Electoral Trust. The "Democracy Act" or federal statute would outline the details with which the constitutional amendment would be implemented. The Democracy Foundation is the sponsor of the Democracy Amendment and

7992-551: The faithful Pars dynamica (trial procedure) Canonization Election of the Roman Pontiff Academic degrees Journals and Professional Societies Faculties of canon law Canonists Institute of consecrated life Society of apostolic life A decree ( Latin : decretum ) in the usage of the canon law of the Catholic Church has various meanings. Any papal bull , brief , or motu proprio

8103-400: The fifth time since 1927. Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield 's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted. On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for

8214-435: The first self-described political consultant , in late 1966. They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans "Alaska first" and "Let's do something about the state we're in", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs , and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, A Man for Alaska . The film

8325-666: The further extent possible, the feared "mob rule" mentality. By 2009, 24 US states had an initiative process in place at the state level. The proposed National Initiative would be somewhat similar to those already in place at the state level , but they would differ in the following significant ways: The Democracy Foundation and the Philadelphia II Corporation are non-profit organizations established by former United States Senator Mike Gravel (Democratic Party, Alaska , 1969–1981). These organizations were established in conjunction to promote direct democracy through

8436-583: The general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent. When Gravel joined the U.S. Senate in January 1969, he requested and received a seat on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee , which had direct relevance to Alaskan issues. He also got a spot on the Public Works Committee , which he held throughout his time in the Senate. Finally, he

8547-485: The grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest. Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times ; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments. Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having

8658-457: The issue, suggesting that he might be willing to support it in exchange for federal lands in Alaska being opened up for private oil drilling. His vote alienated Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson , who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign. Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for

8769-649: The late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House . Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968 . As a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam , and for putting the Pentagon Papers into

8880-502: The late 1960s and early 1970s, the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile . Two tests, the "Milrow" and "Cannikin" tests , were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one-megaton calibration exercise for the second and larger five-megaton Cannikin test, which would measure

8991-407: The legislative process; and granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers. The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure. He became a sought-after speaker on the college circuit as well as at political fundraisers, opportunities he welcomed as lectures were "the one honest way

9102-492: The legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy. Gravel did not run for reelection in 1966, instead choosing to run for Alaska's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives , losing the primary to four-term incumbent Democrat Ralph Rivers by 1,300 votes and splitting the Democratic Party in the process. Rivers lost the general election that year to Republican state Senator Howard Pollock . Following this defeat, Gravel returned to

9213-478: The next several days, Gravel (who was dyslexic ) was assisted by his congressional office staff in reading and analyzing the report. Worried his home might be raided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation , Gravel smuggled the report (which filled two large suitcases) into his congressional office, which was then guarded by disabled Vietnam veterans. On the night of June 29, 1971, Gravel attempted to read

9324-477: The papers on the floor of the Senate as part of his filibuster against the draft, but was thwarted when no quorum could be formed. Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired. He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee. He began reading from

9435-433: The papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, "It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making." He read until 1 a.m., culminating by saying "Arms are being severed. Metal is clashing through human bodies because of

9546-459: The part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971, Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to

9657-684: The people's right to make laws at the local, state and federal level of every jurisdiction in the country and a federal law (Democracy Act) which spells out orderly procedures for the people to develop and vote on laws. "The National Initiative does not change or eliminate Congress , the President , or the Judicial Branch of government. Laws created by initiative must still stand up in the courts just like laws created by Congress." The National Initiative adds an additional check—the people—to America's system of checks and balances, while setting up

9768-712: The petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol . The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959. She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager. She had also been named Anchorage's " Miss Fur Rendezvous " of 1958. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c.  1960 and 1962 respectively. Gravel ran without avail for

9879-730: The primary by about 2,000 votes. Gruening found "the unexpected defeat hard to take" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers. In the general election, Gravel faced Republican Elmer E. Rasmuson , a banker and former mayor of Anchorage. College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent , but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left. A late appearance by anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy did not offset Gruening's lack of funds and endorsements; meanwhile, Gravel and Rasmuson both saturated local media with their filmed biographies. On November 5, 1968, Gravel won

9990-507: The proposed Act, a Federal Statute would become law. The proposed amendment to the Constitution: The proposed Federal Statute: This legislation considers itself to be enacted when it has received a number of affirmative votes greater than half the total number of votes cast in the presidential election occurring immediately prior to its certification. The United States Constitution (via Article VII) also self-enacted. This

10101-580: The public policy this government and all its branches continue to support." Then with tears and sobs he said that he could no longer physically continue, the previous three nights of sleeplessness and fear about the future having taken their toll. Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee. The following day,

10212-539: The public record in 1971. He conducted an unsuccessful campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States , and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in in 1974 , but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980 . An advocate of direct democracy and

10323-513: The real estate business in Anchorage. In 1968, Gravel ran against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic United States Senator Ernest Gruening , a popular former governor of the Alaska Territory who was considered one of the fathers of Alaska's statehood, for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate . Gravel's campaign was primarily based on his youth and telegenic appearance rather than issue differences. He hired Joseph Napolitan ,

10434-527: The regulations under the 1958 Constitution. Except for the reserve powers of the President (as stated in Art. 16 of the 1958 Constitution, exercised only once so far), the executive can issue decrees in areas that the Constitution grants as the responsibility of Parliament only if a law authorizes it to do so. In other cases, orders are illegal and, should anyone sue for the order's annulment, it would be voided by

10545-451: The unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose. On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel

10656-602: The war to a rapid end. During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the "Vietnam War Out Now" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan. In June 1972, he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton , actress Candice Bergen , theater producer and director Joseph Papp , and pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock , into

10767-514: Was "good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel "probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances". Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. In the time consumed by nominating and seconding and all the vice-presidential candidates' speeches, the attention of

10878-702: Was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business . In 1971, he became chair of the Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and by 1973 he was chair of its Subcommittee on Water Resources, then later its Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution. Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. By 1973, Gravel was off the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and

10989-692: Was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps . After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina , he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning , Georgia . While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he

11100-649: Was initially mediocre. By Gravel's telling, in the summer of 1948 he intended to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine war , but Alexandra Tolstaya told him to return to school. There an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking. Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949. His sister, Marguerite, became

11211-464: Was instead assigned to Stuttgart , West Germany , as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans , France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as

11322-401: Was interested in the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact already considering

11433-606: Was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp , the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances "Sissy" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates. Gravel attracted some attention for his efforts: writer Norman Mailer said he "provided considerable excitement" and

11544-488: Was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues. Nonetheless, Gravel was reelected to the Senate in 1974, with 58 percent of the vote. His Republican opponent, State Senator C. R. Lewis, was a national officer of the John Birch Society , and earned 42 percent of the vote. Decree A decree is a legal proclamation , usually issued by

11655-441: Was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages. The heavy showings quickly reversed a 2–to–1 Gruening lead in polls into a Gravel lead. Gravel visited many remote villages by seaplane and showed a thorough understanding of the needs of the bush country and the fishing and oil industries. Gravel also benefited from maintaining

11766-403: Was sometimes seen as arrogant or a nuisance by the more senior and tradition-oriented members. Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him. But even senators who agreed with him on issues considered his methods to be showboating. As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep

11877-538: Was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $ 155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War . President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft , a decision endorsed by

11988-514: Was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; in a 5-to-4 decision it held that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee; did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but compelled the aide to testify before a grand jury about matters not directly related to

12099-478: Was the only Democratic Senator outside of the South to vote for Nixon's Supreme Court nominee Clement Haynsworth . The following year, Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell . Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election , announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he

12210-536: Was to the left of him". In A Man for Alaska , Gravel argued that "the liberals" would come to West Germany 's defense if it was attacked, and that they "should apply the same rule to Asians". During the campaign he also claimed that he was "more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier. Decades later, Gravel conceded that "I said what I said [about Vietnam] to advance my career." Gravel beat Gruening in

12321-521: Was undiagnosed dyslexia , and was left back in third grade. He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him "most charming personality". A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with "the awesomeness of political office". Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts , where his performance

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