California Government and Politics

Professor Kelly Rivera

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* *Pre- 1540’s Inhabited by numerous native California tribes *1543 – Cabrillo arrives from Spain – CA claimed by the

Spanish as a New World Colony

* *1821 – Mexico gains it independence from Spain – the United States

of Mexico is formed

*1840’s Americans begin to arrive and settle in Mexico *CA far way from political life and capital of Mexico: *Remote and unimportant colony

* *1846-1848 War with Mexico *US attacks over border dispute with TX

*Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo – USA purchases territories that will later become CA, AZ, NM, UT, CO, NV, and parts of TX.

* *1848 – GOLD! *Population 4x in one year!

*1850 – CA becomes a state of the USA – amid disputes about the balance of free vs slave states

*Compromise of 1850 – CA admitted as free with NM and UT using popular sovereignty to decide their status

*Compromise of 1850 (CA admitted as Free state to the union) *Waves of migration from Anglos and the Chinese – Californios begin

to lose land and wealth

*Railroad – Southern Pacific Railroad owned 1/5 of all non-public land by 1900

*Second California Constitution drafted – 1879 (end of economic downturn)

*Women granted legal financial rights

*Included harsh anti – immigrant provisions, aimed at Asian immigrants – these were later found violate the United States Constitution and were

thrown out.

*Changes to CA constitution included many forms of direct democracy: referendum, initiative, recall.

*Progressive Movement come to CA – 1902-1919 *Hiram Johnson – Progressive Governor

*Child Labor Laws and Conservationism

*Women granted the right to vote in 1911 (9 years before the Federal change with the 19th Amendment and 41 years after WY)

*Non-Partisan Offices – weakened party control and remove political power from the railroad companies that controlled the parties

*Candidates for city, county, judicial offices, and educations boards cannot list their party affiliation on the ballot

* *Separation of powers (3 branches) *Legislators share lawmaking with the people (initiative

process)

*Governor’s powers diminished as the people elect the executive officials (not appointed)

*Judges must be approved by voters

*CA Constitution also includes protects for property acquisition, safety, privacy – all of which is not

explicitly state in the US Constitution.

* *Much easier to amend than the United States

Constitution

*Amended over 500 times since 1879

*Discussion Point – What are the benefits of an easy amendment process? What are the drawbacks?

United States Constitution California Constitution

2/3 Vote in both Legislative

houses, approval of President and

¾ of all states must ratify

1. Legislative Branch can propose

and with 2/3 vote put a

referendum on the ballot for

voters to approve

2. Initiative process, people

bypass legislature

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“Ideological polarization… divided party control -- In

the context of fragmented political power, the

initiative has been used, not just by groups to bypass

the legislature and the governor – the original intent of

Hiram Johnson – but by legislators unable to pass their

bills. Lobbyists, too, have been giving increasing

attention to initiatives…” – Lee pg. 137

Ability of Citizens to petition to place constitutional

amendments and statutes directly on the ballot for voter

consideration. Need signatures that = 8% of last

gubernatorial election.

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These ballot initiatives, or propositions, deal with

everything from juvenile crime to educational policy,

from Indian gaming rights to the ever-present

insurance industry issues. While political experts

despise the use of initiatives to set public policy,

ballot measures are big business.

* Proposition 13 –limits tax rate for property values and

required 2/3 in both house for future increases of state

tax rates

Proposition 8 – Amends CA constitution to defined marriage as

between a Man and Woman (Struck down by ruling

Hollingsworth v. Perry in 2013).

* A vote by the people to approve or reject an existing

law.

Happens in one of two ways.

* First, the legislature can send a proposed bill directly to the people instead of deciding on it themselves. In

California and most other states, constitutional

amendments automatically trigger a referendum, since

they require the direct approval of the people to pass.

*Alternately, the people can attempt to repeal a law even after it has been passed by the Legislature.

* *Under California law, any elected official may be the target of a

recall campaign.

*The number of signatures = 12% of the number of votes cast in the previous election for that office.

*2003 recall election, that meant a minimum of 897,156 signatures, based on the November 2002 statewide elections, but 1.2 million were needed

to ensure that there were enough valid signatures.

* *Includes the Senate and Assembly *State Senate – 40 Senators elected to 4 year terms for no

more than 2 terms

*State Assembly – 80 Reps elected to 2 year terms for no more than 3 terms

*Creates and votes on new bills *Controls how state taxes are spent

* *Walnut Senator – Ling Ling Chang (R) *Walnut Assembly Member – Phillip Chen (R)

*What might be some of the implications of term limits? Is this effective/efficient for democracy?

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Plural Executive (Voters in CA vote into office all the members of the state executive branch)

*The Led by the Governor Creates Budget Plan *Governor – Highest elected official in the state – 4 year terms *Signs or Vetoes bills sent up by the legislative branch *Lieutenant Governor – President of the Senate and 2nd in

command to Governor

*Secretary of State – records decision of Legislature, runs the elections

*Treasurer – state’s banker *Auditor/Controller – collects money owed to the state and

oversees spending

*Attorney General – chief law enforcer *Superintendent of Public Instruction – directs state board of

education

* *Made up of state courts *California Supreme Court is the state’s

highest court

*7 Justices serve on the CA Supreme Court *CA Supreme Court hears cases regarding

rights and freedoms of CA citizens and

questions about the state Constitution

*58 lower Courts (one for each county) – in lower court judges are selected by voters

*Discussion point – How might the election of judges be beneficial/harmful to the

legal process?

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Consider the differences in the CA and US

Constitutions.

*The role of the people to impact change

*The set up of the executive branch

*The role of term limits in the legislative branch

*The election process for state judges