Ohio has held four constitutional conventions: 1802, 1851, 1874 and in 1912. At the 1912 convention progressive reformists, led by former President Theodore Roosevelt, passed 33 amendments. The "citizen led ballot initiative" was one of these amendments. The amendment was sold as a fail-safe for a corrupt and out of control government that failed to represent the people and only represented rich special interests. Ohio had been experiencing a tremendous amount of corruption in government since the Civil war that had been attributed to corruption that started with Ohioans Jay Cooke and Ohio Governor Salmon Chase.
The 1912 constitutional convention was a victory for the anti-establishment (progressives and conservative Republicans) over the establishment (corrupt Republicans doing the bidding of the moneyed class.)
Today, the Ohio ballot initiative process is no longer the antidote to special interests and the moneyed class; it is their vehicle of choice to attempt to get their way without having to endure the scrutiny and compromise of the legislative process.