This research paper discusss the essential and unique features of the California political system, including an analysis of its constitution and the working of some of its basic institutions, as illustrated by some contemporary problems.
The California constitution is the result of two constitutional conventions, one in Monterey in 1849 called just before the state was admitted to the Union, a second in 1879 and, as of 1992, a total of 445 amendments approved by the voters out of the 685 proposed by the legislature and another 35 amendments resulting from 115 initiatives on the popular ballot. The Constitution is a cumbersome document, containing over 34,000 words, much longer than the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution in its Bill of Rights contains "a host of enumerated and described rights," "broader language and protection . . . than in the Federal Constitution," including such rights as an inviolate right to trial by jury, explicit guarantees of the right of free speech and the exercise of religion, a prohibition against slavery, freedom from imprisonment for debt, the subordination of the military to civilian authority and the right of privacy. A liberal document, its 1879 version restricted the employment in California of persons of Chinese descent which was later ruled to be unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Since the late 19th century, the Constitution has been an important tool for curbing the power of the legislature, introducing regulation of the economy and enforcing the popular will. As a result of the reforms of the Progressive era during the early 1900s, Californians under the leadership of Governor and Hiram Johnson adopted by constitutional amendments a direct primary system, the recall, referendum and the initiative, reform of the judiciary and the civil service as well as other measures whose overall effect "was to seriously undermine traditional politics."
The California Constitution fo...