Abstrakt
In this article, we analyse initiatives organized by groups outside of formal politics that involve political confrontation with elected officials, and the need for recourse to the courts. We show that a civic initiative submitted by a proposer gives the voter not only the option to constrain the mayor but also the possibility of learning the mayor's type from the signals conveyed in the legal contest over the validity of the initiative.
We show that, ex ante, signalling in the context of legal uncertainty improves responsiveness.