California Politics Essays

California Politics Essays

1. Topic One: California Politics

Based on the instructor’s guide, there are a lot of useful insights that are both interesting and valuable. Primarily, I have learned that California State has a well-structured government with systems and policies in place for its smooth running. Roman and Littlefield Publishers disclose that the California state is constituted with other governments that pull together for its proper operation (Janiskee, Masugi & Villegas, 2019). It involves the state government, local government, school boards, colleges and universities, special districts, state/federal relations, public policy issues, elections, interest groups, and political philosophies. All these bodies and groups are made up of men and women who are either elected or appointed to carry out their respective duties (Baldassare, Cain, Apollonio, Cohen, 2019). With the state government being on top, it is charged with the most responsibility of ensuring that her citizens’ needs and desires are addressed in accordance with the constitution. The state government is made up of the judicial, executive, and the legislative organs which are responsible for handling court case, running the government and making of laws respectively. The local governments, on the other hand, play an important role as they handle citizens’ issues at a more local area such as water, regional welfares, and even county hospitals, just to mention.

Other organization bodies that exist in California also have very important roles to play. The ones we have mentioned earlier, such as School Boards, Colleges, and Universities, are entrusted with the duties of managing the learning institutions such as the elementary schools, secondary schools, county schools, colleges, and the California State University. There are also special districts responsible for dealing with specific needs in specific areas. Baldassare et al. (2018) cite that an example of such districts includes the Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District (CVMVCD) that deals with preventing and controlling some disease-causing agents. It is also important to note that the groups behind the political philosophies have always ensured that the governments are on toes and that they address all the problems affecting the citizens and that their lives are improved at large.

In my opinion, I feel there high practice of democracy in California. The existence of the political philosophies with people championing them without government interference alone is an indicator. Some of these philosophies are antigovernment such as the Libertarians, but interestingly, they are allowed to utilize their freedom of expression and thoughts without illegal interferences. Another indicator in California State is the election system, which is always practiced with uttermost transparency (Baldassare et al., 2018). Every citizen who has attained the age of 18 years is allowed to register and vote. The voters once registered are allowed to vote a candidate of their choice or vote by the parties. In addition, the expression of democracy in California is observable on the powers of the citizens. The citizens in California are more of legislatures, too, as they have the power to enact and change some policies such as putting legislation on the ballot, a process known as Proposition (Janiskee, Masugi & Villegas, 2019). Generally, California has made a step in terms of democracy. However, there exist a few weaknesses that it should iron out to ensure perfection.

1. Topic Two: California’s Legislature

California is of the major states in the US whose legislature works effectively but still poised to various challenges. Basically, California practices a bicameral legislature that consists of two legislative houses, the lower house and the upper house (Spencer, 2019). The upper house, California state senate, has 40 members while the lower house, California state assembly, is comprised of 80 members. All the houses of the legislature do hold their sittings together at California State Capital.  California was officially made a state in 1850 by the US with its state capital originally at San Jose and the statehouse at a hotel owned by a businessman by the name Don Pedro. Assembly members are elected from all the 80 districts and serve terms of two years. Therefore, the seats are subjected to elections after the two year period. On the other hand, senate members serve four-year terms and are elected after every 40 districts (Janiskee, Masugi & Villegas, 2019). As shared by Spencer (2019), the term limits were established bypassing of proportion 140 in 1990 and later revised in 2012 whereby the state assemblies are limited to three terms and the state senate to two terms.

Legislation activities in California follow a specific stipulated procedure before they are considered successful. In the first place, all the legislature proceedings are properly recorded and published on journals and websites clearly indicating who made proposals and who declined. A bill in the houses is a subject to change, repeal, or add to existing state law, and there exists an assembly bill and a senate bill (Janiskee, Masugi & Villegas, 2019). The protocol of legislation is divided into very distinct stages, with the first stage being drafting. This is the first stage where a member decides to author a bill. The bill is then introduced in the house for first reading, then it is subjected to the policy committee for approval, and if it passes, it is brought back to the assembly for second reading. At this stage, there is little debate, and the bill may be amended. The bill is then placed for a floor vote, and if the majority passes, it is then sent to the second house where similar procedures are undertaken. If it passes the second house, it is sent to the governor’s desk. The governor either signs it to become a law, veto it or allows it to become law without his/her sign within 30 days. The bill finally becomes a law.

Just by any case, California citizens elect good leaders, I feel major issues affecting the state can be a thing of the past. In the past elections, statistics do show that voters are always swayed by the party sycophancy or at times, elect leaders because of their ability to give convincing speeches leaving out some candidates who are really good in actions and can really do the job. I feel that if the state manages to elect good leaders into office, major issues homelessness, inadequate jobs, the economy, and even the high costs of houses and their unavailability can be properly addressed. I think this can be achieved by educating the voters on how to scrutinize the candidates in order only to elect performers into office.

• Topic Five: The Governor

According to Oxford University Press, United States is one of the countries in the world that embraces a system of governance in which there are various senior government officials serving across various levels of management from the state to the grassroots levels (Butterfield & Dunne, 2019). The governor, for instance, is a senior executive that serves as the head of the state and assumes several roles and responsibilities. For instance, the governor is the head of state, the chief executive of the California state, and commander in chief of California state military guard as well as California national guard. The seat is the highest in the state and is constitutionally a subject of elections after every four years with a popular vote and is always carried out in the midterm election years, such as 2018 and 2022. According to a study conducted to understand the historical background about the position established that the office of the governor was established in 1849 from the military governors who held the seats since the annexation (Haskell, 2018). California currently practices state government trifecta, which means that one political party assumes the governor’s office and at the same time, has the majorities I both the lower and upper house. In the last election of 2018, the democrats had a net gain of six trifectas and the republicans losing four trifectas. It is useful to note that the new and latest governor who was elected in the last election is known as Gavin Newsom, who assumed office in January 2019, and he is the 40^th.  The governor can lose his/her seat through recall elections by the citizens.

Haskell (2018) argues that once the governor has been elected and has assumed the office, he/she is expected to perform some roles and responsibilities as per the Californian constitutions for the smooth running of the state. The governor is therefore given the powers to make policy recommendations that can be adopted by lawmakers in both the houses, sponsored and introduced as bills. The governor is also charged with the responsibility of appointing members of commissions and boards who oversee state departments and agencies. Other duties include giving a report to the legislature about the conditions of the state and the budgets annually. They are also responsible for signing or vetoing bills passed in both the houses before they become state laws. According to Haskell (2018), the governor can convene special sittings of the legislature for some special purposes and also act as the commander in chief of the California military. The governor further has the power to declare special elections for some elected offices if they become vacant. The Oxford University Press also asserts that the governor is also responsible for ensuring discipline by the state officials by allowing reprieves and commutations of punishment and pardons once recommended by the board of pardons and paroles (Butterfield & Dunne, 2019). The duties are vast and vital; therefore, they need a professional with a clear mind.

Governor position being the biggest seat in California politics, there are several challenges that they may face when in the line of duty, which might hinder their performance. The immediate challenge when the governor assumes office is putting the strategies in place to solve the state and local policies and issues (Janiskee, Masugi & Villegas, 2019). Major issues than are often tormenting includes ensuring criminal justice, keeping of the proper culture in the society, ensuring proper, accessible and affordable healthcare, economic affairs such as the budget and taxes, state security, proper education and housing systems that are favorable eve to the poor, environmental issues such as global warming and air quality and even ensuring good social welfare such as proper social security. I would advise any governor in offices that these issues can easily be addressed so long as he/she ensures they have the right team that is qualified to run each department of the state.

1. Topic Seven: Local Government

In the United States, local governments refer to the governmental jurisdictions that are below the level of the state government. The local governments play an extensive role in managing public functions throughout the state that are together aimed at implementing state policies. California has several local governments that play important roles in addressing issues and implementing the vital policies affecting her citizens. A study about rural politics in the US disclosed the local governments in this state exist primarily of three types, which include the cities, special districts, and counties (Bryan, 2019). They comprise the 58 counties, 482 cities and over 3000 special districts which all work together to implement the policies. There are always elections to fill positions in the local governments. California’s constitution provides for elections that are non-partisan, and that party affiliations are not allowed for the city, judicial offices, counties, and counties.

All the local governments have specific roles to play, which contributes to the realization of the state policies. Counties, for instance, act as agents of the health programs and social services in the state, such as jails, assessor, district attorney, and even the election. In line with this, counties perform a role in providing municipal services in some areas. Cities, on the other hand, are growing up due to the continuous creation by the citizens in order to control municipalities and land. In 2019, Bryan disclosed that the major role of cities is providing the municipal services such as the fire extinguishing services, parks, and the police and managing the libraries (Bryan, 2019). There are also redevelopment agencies that are deemed with two authorities, which are increasing property tax financing eminent domain. California also has special districts that are created to perform and provide specific and single services. Some of the single services they provide include fire protection, waste disposal, and disease control such as malaria(Janiskee, Masugi & Villegas, 2019). The special districts are managed by board members who are either appointed or elected. In general, the local governments play important roles in making and implementing public policies in the entire State of California that the state government might overlook.

To make the local government governments more productive and effective, the state government should increase the funding for its operations. Bryan (2019) also argues that if such action is taken, the quality of services that they provide will improve, and all the policies will be implemented. The state can also ensure the efficiency of these local governments by ensuring that they appoint board members who are competitive and those that have the citizens at heart.

References

Baldassare, M., Cain, B., Apollonio, D., & Cohen, J. M. (2019). Voters’ views of politics in California: Dissatisfaction, distrust, and withdrawal. Retrieved from: https://escholarship.org/content/qt1xs4n3sf/qt1xs4n3sf.pdf

Berman, D. (2019). Local government and the states: autonomy, politics, and policy. Routledge. Retrieved from: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780429507038

Bryan, F. M. (2019). Politics in the Rural States: People, Parties, and Processes. Routledge. Retrieved from: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780429302459

Butterfield, H., & Dunne, T. (2019). Diplomatic Investigations: Essays on the Theory of International Politics. Oxford University Press, USA. Retrieved from: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=hZOwDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=California+Politics+Essays&ots=N1ysEBQMYK&sig=s7gFjqovCrILz-gpwz-Dpzln22Q

Haskell, J. (2018). Direct democracy or representative government? Dispelling the populist myth. Routledge. Retrieved from: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780429500985

Janiskee, B. P., Masugi, K., & Villegas, C. G. (2019). Democracy in California: Politics and Government in the Golden State. Roman & Littlefield Publishers. Retrieved from: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=om6bDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=California+Politics+Essays&ots=DZWXjm6EUj&sig=3Y8GM7H_MK2rOgyiLu1VA_JlNEk

Spencer, M. W. (2019). Exploring California’s state capitol from birth to rebirth. Retrieved from: http://csus-dspace.calstate.edu/handle/10211.3/209106