Beyond the glamour and sleaze of mid-term USA candidate elections, the 
ballot issues in many states provide an interesting side-show, described 
for instance here
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/saira_khan/2006/11/one_thing_we_should_be_importi.html

For the curious and intrepid we add:

A "three-step" democracy model which has some advantages over  US 
american style ballot issues
http://www.iniref.org/steps.html

The case for introducing elements of direct democracy such as citizens' 
initiative and referendum in Britain
http://www.iniref.org/case.html

More about how direct democracy already works in practice may be found 
as follows:

Direct Democracy in 5 Countries of Europe
http://visar.csustan.edu/aaba/aabajourVol5-No1.html

Resources and stuff to read
http://www.iniref.org/learn.html
http://www.iniref.org/swissdemocracy.html

Regards
Wallace-Macpherson