Transcript We the People 5th edition by Benjamin Ginsberg, Theodore J

Introduction
California Government
Chapter 1
California’s
“Landscape”
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Diverse geography &
topography
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770 miles long, 250 miles wide
Highest peak (Mt. Whitney);
lowest point (Death Valley)
840 miles of coastline
Dense ancient forests; dry
deserts; fertile farmlands
Among the world’s 10
largest economies

$1.9 trillion GDP
California’s “Landscape”
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One of the world’s most diverse
societies
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39 million people; 1 of 8 Americans
live in California
1 in 4 are immigrants
Largest city: Los Angeles, 3.8 million
Median household income: $57,700
Persons living in poverty: 16.3%
California Population by
Race/Ethnicity 1970-2015
White
Hispanic
Asian
Black
Multi
Am Ind
100%
7%
6%
3%
90%
13%
12%
80%
70%
60%
39%
50%
40%
77%
30%
38%
20%
10%
0%
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2015*
CA compared to rest of US in 2010
18% of US
82% of US
Black
Black
Asian
Asian
Latin@
Latin@
White
White
California’s Political
Landscape
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Citizens are generally distrustful of politicians
and government
Massive scale of issues, problems, state
budget
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Heavy use of initiative process
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$96 billion general fund budget for 2013-2014
Dominated by big spenders
Growing prevalence of Independent voters:
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20%+ of registered voters are not affiliated with a
political party
Is California ungovernable?
•
How does the political culture in California
make governing difficult?
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High demand for public goods
Little willingness to pay higher taxes
General distrust of government
General faith in initiative process
What institutions and rules impede governing?
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Initiative process doesn’t encourage compromise
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One option only
“Take it or leave it” (can’t be amended)
No clear solutions to divisive issues that top
the political agenda; no easy choices
–
Government spending
California’s Political
History
California Government
Chapter 2
History matters
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Earliest history still evident in today’s politics
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Spanish conquest (1542-1821)
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Way station to the far east (Philippines and rest of Asia)
Mexican rule (1821-1848)
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Social and economic activity centralized in mission
complexes located along El Camino Real
Ranchero era, “Ramona” Myth
Less than 10,000 Mexicans living in Alta California at the
time of the Mexican-American war
Mexican government gave out large land grants to
encourage settlement in Alta California
Other countries (US, England, France, Russia) eyeing Alta
California
California becomes a US State
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Mexican-American War (1846-1848) map
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US President Polk succeeds in declaring war
US wins, get’s the land including California
California as a US State
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Gold rush encourages people to move to CA
CA becomes state in compromise of 1850
CA constitution of 1849 in English, Spanish
New CA constitution of 1879 in English only
Independent spirit fostered by distance from
Eastern U.S.
California statehood:
initial earthquakes
•
Admitted as a “free” state (no slavery)
in1850
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Population grew rapidly with Gold Rush
Transcontinental Railroad completed 1869
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Connected California to the rest of the country
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Continuing population boom
Led to concentration of political power
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Millions of acres controlled by “SP”
The “Big Four” owners of the Southern Pacific Railroad
company (“SP”)
Whole industries and political system controlled by “SP”
Discrimination against Asians
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Chinese
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Chinese Exclusion Act (1882), passed by U.S. Congress
as a result of agitation from California representatives, in
effect until World War II
Chinese segregated in California, not allowed to immigrate
(no family reunification), can’t marry whites, pop decline
Japanese and Koreans
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Agitation for segregation of Japanese and Koreans
After winning the Russo-Japanese War in 1905 Japan
pushed for better treatment of Japanese in U.S.
Gentlemen’s Agreement between U.S. and Japan
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1907-1924: Japan agreed to restrict laborers from coming to U.S.
and U.S. pressured California to stop segregating Japanese
California Alien Land Law of 1913
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Residents ineligible for citizenship could not own land
(Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Asian Indians), give to kids
“Progressive” earthquake
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Progressive political movement, late 1800s-mid
1910s
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“Restore power to the people”
Make government more efficient; eliminate
corruption; “Good Government”
Gov. Hiram Johnson’s ambitious electoral reforms
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Direct Democracy: initiative, referendum, recall
Civil Service instead of patronage
Nonpartisan elections for local officials
Cross-filing
» Candidates could seek nomination of all political parties
Great Depression and
California
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Great Depression
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Wave of migration from Dust Bowl states
Socialist journalist Upton Sinclair wins
Democratic nomination for governor, fails to
win the general election
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1934 “EPIC” campaign (End Poverty in California)
Postwar Developments
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Many African-Americans move to California during
and after WWII
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Many jobs in California
Restrictive covenants allowed by proposition 14 passed in
1964 (declared unconstitutional by CA Supreme Court)
Watts riots 1965, touched off similar throughout country
Tom Bradley first African-American LA Mayor (1973-1993)
LA Riots 1992 (maps of changing ethnic regions in LA)
Hispanics
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Zoot suit riots, Bracero program, 1942-1964
Organizing workers, Cesar Chavez
Population growth
Initiatives
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1994, Prop 187 – deny healthcare, services to undocumented
(declared unconstitutional by US Supreme Court)
1998, Prop 227 – requires all public education in English
Postwar Developments
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Rapid population & economic expansion
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Infrastructure investments
Rise of Southern California with respect to
Northern California
Growth of Defense Industry (esp. in Los
Angeles and San Diego)
Water Projects (water from the north to the
south)
Political parties weakened by
Progressive reforms
Postwar Political Earthquakes
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Proposition 13 in 1978
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“Grassroots” political response to skyrocketing
property values and tax rates
Capped property taxes at 1% of a property’s
purchase price
Beginning of “tax revolt” across the country,
important for Republican Party ideology
Boosted use of the initiative process
Decreased money for local government, especially
for education
Requires 2/3’s vote to raise taxes
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Gives minority party (Republicans) leverage
Recent earthquakes triggered by
direct democracy
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Prop 98 (passed 1988) requires 40% of state
budget for K-14 (response to prop 13)
Term Limits (passed1990) imposed on state
elected officials
Three strikes (passed 1994) requires 25+ years
for third felony after two violent felonies
Recall of Governor Davis and replacement by
Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003
Open primary system and districts drawn by
citizen commission (passed 2010)
Raise taxes for schools, Prop 30 (passed 2012)
Rolling Earthquakes
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Continuing growth and diversification of
population
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People move from US states (“rust belt”) to CA
Waves of immigrants from Mexico, Korea,
Vietnam, China, and Central/South American
countries
California very diverse
California will be majority Latino state by 2050
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Latinos will be the largest group in the next few years
Pattern shown in slide at start of Chapter 1 likely to
continue
Direct Democracy
California Government
Chapter 3
Direct Democracy in California
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Initiative, referendum and recall first instituted
as part of Los Angeles city charter in 1903
In 1911 California voter’s approved the
following referenda put forward by the state
legislature (the legislature was dominated by
progressives at the time)
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Proposition 7: Initiative and Referendum
Proposition 8: Recall
These apply to state and local governments
At the same election proposition 4 gave Women
the right to vote
California’s Hybrid Political
System
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Representative Democracy is
combined with Direct Democracy
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Elected representatives in the
legislature and executive branch
make laws & public policies
Voters also directly participate in
making laws
At state and local levels
Three Aspects of Direct
Democracy
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Initiative Process
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Referendum (plural = “referenda”)
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Citizens may propose laws or constitutional
amendments and vote on them
Two Types:
1) Bills passed by the legislature which must be
approved by the people (compulsory referenda)
2) Voters may reject a law passed by the legislature
and signed by the governor (petition referenda)
Recall
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Voters may remove an elected official from office
Initiative Process Generally
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Californians use it more than any other state
(but Oregon and Colorado are close rivals)
Expensive to qualify measures: about $2
million
Many subjects:
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Government structure and processes
Taxation
Immigration
Social welfare
Public morality (drugs; abortion)
Criminal justice
Etc.
Stages of the Initiative Process
1.
Preparation Stage
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2.
Qualification Stage
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3.
Write initiative, submit to Attorney General (AG)
with $200
AG’s office assigns it a title and writes objective
summary of initiative
Gather signatures: about 1 million to ensure
enough are valid (more signatures required for
constitutional initiative than statute initiative)
Secretary of State reports county verification of
signatures & certifies measure for ballot
Campaigning Stage
Enacting an Initiative
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Majority (50% + 1) Yes vote needed to pass
Theoretically goes into effect immediately,
But if there is a powerful opposition, they often
challenge the initiative in court and the initiative
may be “stayed” until the court (State and
sometimes U.S.) reaches a decision
Courts can
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Remove “stay”: state that initiative is constitutional
Nullify all or part of an initiative
Example: Proposition 187, prohibiting illegal immigrants
from receiving social services (1994)
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Most provisions of the law were declared unconstitutional
because they conflicted with the U.S. Constitution
Opponents may attempt to pass an initiative in the
future to nullify it
Referenda: Two Types
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Compulsory Referenda: Most common are
bonds or constitutional amendments proposed by
the legislature
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Voters must approve state borrowing over $300,000
Tend to be in the BILLIONS of dollars to fund large
infrastructure projects
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Example High speed rail in 2008: $9.9 billion
Petition Referenda: Citizens may reject all or
parts of a law passed by legislature and signed by
governor
Signatures must be collected and verified
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Same signature requirement as an initiative to create a
law
The Recall
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Voters may remove state and local officials
Proponents must gather signatures equal to a
percentage of votes cast in last election for that
official’s office
Proponents have 5 months to collect signatures
Very rare statewide: succeeded only once in
California (Gray Davis, 2003)
More common at local level (school board and
city council are the most common)
Local Direct Democracy
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Citizens may propose local laws
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Most common local initiatives pertain to:
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For cities or municipalities, and for counties
Government & political processes
Taxation and bonds
Business & labor regulations
Land Use
Unlike state initiatives, local officials may avoid
a vote (which can be costly) by adopting the
initiative
Consequences of Hybrid
Democracy
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Piecemeal reforms target parts of a
problem rather than the whole system
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Compromise is difficult
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Results in fragmented, incomplete solutions
Initiatives do not encourage negotiation;
they represent a “take it or leave it” choice
to voters
Well-funded special interests are
empowered
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Initiative process is costly
Consequences of Hybrid
Democracy
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People have more governing power
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Citizens do have the power to take action on
issues the legislature might avoid
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Example: Term Limits
Citizens have power to act on issues the parties
are “stalemated” over
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Example: Open Primaries and Redistricting
Consequences of Hybrid
Democracy
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The California Constitution is much
longer than the U.S. Constitution
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The California constitution is more detailed
California Constitution is easier to
amend than the U.S. Constitution
Link to California Constitution table of
contents:
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http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/const-toc.html
Landmark Initiatives 1966-2010
Recent Initiatives and Upcoming
Elections
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Results from previous elections
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_California_ba
llot_propositions_2010-2019
If two proposition covering similar subjects pass,
the one with more votes goes into effect
 Example: the 11/6/12 election had two
initiatives on school funding
Initiatives in circulation and for future
elections:
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http://sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_j.htm
The Continuing Controversy
over Direct Democracy
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Criticisms
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Excessively Complicated and Fragmented
Those with Money Have Too Much Power
“Take It or Leave It” Nature
Sometimes Declared Unconstitutional
Even so, direct democracy is popular
with voters in California