42 The nature of American politics
cultural land, to the vineyards and forests of the north, up to the border with
Oregon 800 miles away. The state has varied industries, including oil and gas
production, mining, the computer powerhouse of Silicon Valley, tourism and
of course Hollywood. There are great cities, Los Angeles and San Francisco,
and innumerable smaller cities and towns. California has a population of over
36 million of which 15 million are white, 13 million are Hispanic, 4 million
are of Asian origin, and 2 million are black. If it were a separate sovereign
country it would be the world’s sixth largest economy, surpassing most of the
world’s most populous countries.
The state constitution reflects the Constitution of the United States in
embodying the separation of powers between the legislative, executive and
judicial branches. The legislature is bicameral with a Senate and an Assem-
bly. The governor has a veto over legislation, but as in the federal govern-
ment the veto can be overridden by a two-thirds majority of both houses of
the legislature. In addition to the elected governor and legislature a number
of state officials are also directly elected: the lieutenant governor, the at-
torney general, the secretary of state, the treasurer, the controller, the in-
surance commissioner and the school superintendent. In the nature of the
Californian political system these officials can be drawn from different politi-
cal parties, but are still required to work together. The justices of the state
Supreme Court and the appellate courts are nominated by the governor, but
then must be confirmed in office by the voters at the next election; the lower
levels of the judiciary are also elected. The state constitution comes close to
establishing federalism within the state by giving considerable autonomy to
counties, cities and other local governments.
The governor has an important role, if an impossible one to carry out
effectively. The governor must propose legislation to the legislature and pre-
pare a state budget, which totalled $85 billion in 2005. The problem of per-
suading the legislature to accept these proposals is a daunting one. Political
parties in California are weak, internally divided parties; to quote David G.
Lawrence: ‘In the Democratic Party, liberals, moderates, and various caucus
groups fight among themselves. In the Republican Party, fiscal conservatives,
social issue conservatives, and more pragmatic moderates vie for influence
over education, abortion, gun control, gender issues, and gay rights.’ In such
circumstances party discipline is difficult to achieve and the situation is made
even more difficult by the fact that the governor may be facing a legislature
dominated by a majority of the opposing party. When Republican Arnold
Schwarzenegger was elected governor in 2003 he faced a Senate and Assem-
bly both with Democratic majorities. These difficulties are compounded by
the fact that in 1990 the voters of California passed Proposition 140 which
introduced ‘term limits’ restricting state legislators to a maximum of six
years in the Assembly and to eight in the Senate.
To add to the complexity of the institutional structure there are three
instruments of participatory democracy – the initiative, the referendum
and the recall. The initiative allows citizens to propose legislation, which is
then submitted to the voters and if approved becomes law, without the leg-