Chapter 1: Introduction to California Politics PDF

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION Figure 1.1: California’s State Seal1 CHAPTER OBJECTIVES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. To introduce political values that we will use to study California politics To analyze contemporary political ideologies and parties To compare representative and direct democracy To distinguish among...

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION Figure 1.1: California’s State Seal1 CHAPTER OBJECTIVES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. To introduce political values that we will use to study California politics To analyze contemporary political ideologies and parties To compare representative and direct democracy To distinguish among rival arguments regarding who really rules California To identify how political systems theory organizes our study of California politics WELCOME TO THE STUDY OF CALIFORNIA POLITICS Politics is important because it addresses two fundamental questions that every group must address: what should be done and who should decide? It can be very confusing, but underlying the daily barrage of news, rhetoric, and name-calling, there is an underlying logic to the subject. This book concisely explains California politics and shows you how to participate. California politics involves three major dimensions. It is first a matter of values, selecting the principles that we believe are important. Second, it is a matter of constitutional engineering; to create and continue to improve upon a government system that can promote our values. Third, 1 Image is in the public domain 4|California Government and Politics it is a matter of policy; the actions of the government should put our principles into practice. Naturally, there are both agreements and disagreements regarding each of these dimensions. Studying politics is not only valuable to better understand California, but it is also helpful to understand ourselves. What political values do we believe in? What ideology should we adopt? What are our points of view about how California is governed? What policies do we favor? This book is an academic work as well as a primer about how to be political. It thoroughly explains the concepts, theories, and methods of political science used to study California politics. Each chapter includes questions that ask you to consider your own opinions and engage in further inquiry. In this chapter, let’s discuss these central questions of politics. First, we will introduce how political values and ideology shape our viewpoints. Then we will introduce some of the major debates among political scientists that animate the study of many different aspects of California politics. Last, we will introduce systems theory as a way to organize our study. POLITICAL VALUES What matters in life? What are the keys to happiness? At the micro-level, we may value good character, ambitions achieved, pleasures enjoyed, a life full of family and friends, and perhaps faith and virtue. However, politics is about the collective striving for values; approximately forty million Californians decide explicitly, informally, or absent-mindedly, what is essential, what matters more, and what matters less. Thus, let us begin by asking what principles do we care about? In our everyday lives, we may not be aware of the principles that motivate us. However, we may observe people; for example, watching how they treat others or how they spend their money. Then we can infer principles. This person spends her day caring for her mother; the love of family matters. Another spends hours perfecting an athletic skill, seeking physical excellence. A third is always shopping, loving to accumulate stuff. Similarly, at the political level, we may observe the actions of forty million Californians and infer what matters to us as a state. Naturally, there are so many political phenomena to observe and analyze. Often, we may infer that multiple values are at stake. In general, three are most evident: liberty, equality, and order. There are various definitions of each of these values, and any particular political issue may not involve all three. Let us consider each of them and then apply them to current policy debates. Liberty, or freedom, is commonly defined in two ways. The first is negative liberty: freedom from interference, especially government interference. This version is rooted in the philosophy of John Locke and other social contract philosophers. The individual possesses autonomy and should be free to make their own decisions unless they interfere with the freedom of others. The second is positive liberty: when individuals find greater freedom by doing that which is good as defined by a collective philosophy. For example, a religion may prohibit certain behaviors to help the individual free themselves from moral failings. 5|California Government and Politics A law may take away negative liberty and add positive liberty. In 1986, California began requiring everyone to wear seatbelts in automobiles. This law takes away negative liberty by telling us what to do but gives us positive liberty by making it more likely that we will survive an accident to enjoy the liberty of another day. A second crucial political value is equality, which also may be defined in multiple ways. Drawing on the ideas of John Locke and others, the notion of intrinsic equality argues that every one, being human, is equal and hence has equal rights. For example, although there are dramatic differences in achievement among us, each person casts a single vote at the polling place. After this fundamental premise, we can distinguish between equality of opportunity and equality of outcome. The first advocates a “level playing field” with no discrimination based on personal attributes such as race, ethnicity, and gender. For example, federal and state laws prohibit employment discrimination. The second, equality of outcome, favors everyone receiving the same result or condition. For example, everyone is assigned a desk in a classroom; or perhaps in the future, everyone receives health care. A third value is order. Our moral judgments evaluate the legitimacy of public policies. There are many examples of the value of order. Belief in a particular economic ideology such as capitalism or socialism informs our opinions about economic policies such as the minimum wage, tax rates, or welfare. Our religious beliefs may cause us to object to public policies upholding personal freedoms. Many people perceive obeying the law as good in itself. On the other hand, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights protestors engaged in nonviolent civil disobedience, their sense of order led them to violate civil law to promote a higher law. When considering an issue, values may harmonize or conflict. For example, equality of opportunity and negative liberty enhance each other. Let everyone pursue their dreams without government interference. On the other hand, equality of outcome is likely to clash with negative liberty because providing equal provisions of goods and services will require higher taxes and more regulations. The classic tradeoff is between negative liberty and order. We want to do what we wish, but this may clash with existing laws. For example, homeless people wish to camp in parks and other places where this is prohibited. The case study below illustrates this conflict in values. 6|California Government and Politics FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION Driving the Homeless out of Echo Park A few miles north of downtown Los Angeles lies Echo Park Lake, a reservoir with a mile-long path around it surrounded by grass and trees. It is a place for nearby residents to play ball, have picnics, rent swan-shaped paddle boats, or simply walk. However, as the homelessness crisis worsened in Los Angeles County, the park began to fill with tents and other makeshift shelters, with approximately 200 people crowding out the usual park visitors. The city of Los Angeles did not enforce the “no camping” regulations. Figure 1.2: Echo Park2 With sanitary conditions declining and reported crimes increasing, the residents in the surrounding neighborhood of Echo Park complained, arguing that they could no longer safely use the park. In late March 2020, city workers from several agencies notified everyone making the park their home that they would have to leave. They were offered shelter at hotels paid for by the city. Ultimately, the police had to forcefully evict those that remained, sparking street protests by homeless advocates. By May, the park was fenced off, renovated, and reopened with the resolution that the city would enforce the “no camping” regulation. Considering this case study, what political values are evident? The first question that emerges is how, as a society, do we provide for housing? Is this addressed through the free market, that is, people are responsible for themselves, buying or renting? Is this addressed through 2 Image by Alaiben is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 7|California Government and Politics FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION public housing with units provided by the government? Is there a middle ground under which the government subsidizes rents? All three types of economic order are undoubtedly present in the state; the question is, what balance among the three do we prefer? As the price of housing increases in California with the stock of public and subsidized housing in short supply, advocates for the homeless in Echo Park argue that residing in the park is a reasonable short-term solution to help address the housing crisis. Second, the Echo Park camp raises questions of liberty: should people have the freedom to camp where they please? If homeless people are free to camp in the park, does that infringe upon other people’s liberty, namely local residents, to use the park for recreation? If so, whose liberty matters more? This is also a matter of equality: do the homeless have as much right to be in the park as local residents? And, drawing upon the concept of positive liberty, perhaps the homeless are best treated by providing them with homes, even if they prefer not to leave the park. What do you believe? If you were on the Los Angeles City Council, would you favor removing the homeless people from the park? FROM POLITICAL VALUES TO POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES AND PARTIES Return to the first big political question that every society must ask: What should be done? Political values address this question. How much liberty do you wish? How much equality? How much order? Some people consistently favor one value more than another, and others try to find a middle ground. For example, with issues regarding negative liberty, you may find yourself consistently favoring non-interference by the government or you may be concerned with rising poverty and want more government interference across a range of social issues. Perhaps in some areas of policy, you want much more government interference, and in others, you want people to be left alone. As you consider the variety of your political opinions, a certain consistency in your thinking is likely to emerge. This is your political ideology. To characterize your political ideology, ask yourself, “What role do you want the government to have in society?” Although there are many kinds of policies, we can identify your political ideology if we select two significant areas: social policy and economic policy. Examples of social issues include abortion and gay marriage. Examples of economic issues include taxation, the budget, and environmental regulation. The liberal believes in more government intervention in the economy, including more taxing and spending, but wants less government intervention in social affairs such as abortion. The conservative is the opposite, wanting less government intervention in the economy, with lower taxes and less government spending, but is willing to have the government intervene to regulate personal behavior such as abortion regulation. 8|California Government and Politics Libertarians want more freedom in all areas; socialists are the exact opposite, wanting consistent government control. In the middle are the moderates, who seek to balance liberal and conservative ideologies. Of course, you can be more moderate or extreme within each quadrant of the figure below: Figure 1.3: Political Ideologies3 Once you have determined your political ideology, it is a small step to identify the political party you would prefer. Today, just about all liberals join the Democratic Party, and just about all conservatives join the Republican Party. There is a small Libertarian Party, but there is no explicitly socialist party on our ballot. However, the Peace and Freedom Party and the Green Party have some positions that are socialist. The evolution of parties in this state will be discussed in greater detail in subsequent chapters. Before the 1980s, party and ideology were less closely connected; there were many conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans. As the country has become more polarized, such people are less common. If you register to vote (see “For Further Inquiry” below), you may choose to define yourself as a member of a political party or select “no party preference.” California has a top-two primary system where all candidates are on everyone’s ballots and the top two winners (regardless of party affiliation) go on from the primary (usually in June) to the general election (November). The one exception is with the U.S. presidential race, in which one or more of the parties may 3 Image by Alexa Johnson of the College of the Canyons ZTC Team is licensed under CC BY 4.0 9|California Government and Politics require you to be registered as a member to vote in their presidential primary (for example, the California Republican Party limits primary voters to registered Republicans). Thus, because you likely care about the U.S. presidential race, it still makes sense to register for a party. Now that you have a better idea of who you are politically, compare yourself to other Californians. According to a May 2022 poll (Baldassare) about 35% of Californians call themselves liberal, 29% moderate, and 33% percent conservative. Approximately 48% of likely voters said they registered as Democrats, 24% as Republicans, 21% as independents, and 7% with a minor party, including the American Independent Party, the Green Party, the Libertarian Party, and the Peace and Freedom Party. More about these parties in a later chapter! DEBATING WHO GOVERNS Let us go from debating about what should be done—which is addressed by our political values, ideologies, and parties—to considering who should decide what should be done. Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher, categorized governments in terms of whether the one, the few, or the many governed. He then considered the virtues and vices of each form and argued that the ideal system is a mixture of all three. Modern political philosophers, such as Karl Marx, argued that we should also examine the underlying power dynamics that sustain a formal constitutional structure and ask, “Who really rules?” The central historical controversy regarding the formal rules and organization of California government is about the balance between representative and direct democracy. Under representative government, the people elect leaders to the state legislature and executive branch who make laws for them. Under direct democracy, the people seize much of this power through the processes of the initiative, referendum, and recall. To what extent do we trust representatives in comparison to our fellow citizens to make wise public policies? The framers of the U.S. Constitution, such as James Madison, believed representatives to be wiser, worrying that the people were often ignorant and emotional. The Progressives in California, who amended the California Constitution in 1911 to allow for more direct democracy, decried representatives as corrupt, arguing that they were the puppets of special interests such as the Southern Pacific Railroad and the oil companies. They believed that a growing educated urban middle class could exercise a wise check on Sacramento politicians (see Chapter 2). The second debate among political scientists is the question of who really rules. Yes, we have competitive elections that are fairly administered. Yes, we have three branches of government that can check and balance one another as well as reasonably strong constitutional protections of our civil rights and civil liberties. While just about everyone acknowledged the need for reform in many areas, there are dramatically different perspectives on the power structure behind the constitutional system of representative and direct democracy. 10 | C a l i f o r n i a G o v e r n m e n t a n d P o l i t i c s There are three schools of thought. These schools of thought are more like arguments or perspectives rather than theories. The traditional approach is majoritarianism; government is “by the people.” Leaders are accountable to voters in elections. Most people can and do vote in competitive elections among parties or candidates with diverse points of view. Civil liberties and civil rights may not be perfect, but they provide enough protections for us to characterize California as ruled by the people. The second approach is called pluralism. Pluralists believe that while the people still have a say, it is primarily organized interests that run California. These organized interests include labor unions, large businesses, and influential citizen groups. They propel candidates into office and their support is crucial for bills to survive the legislative process. Groups mobilize their members and persuade the electorate to support their positions. The third argument is more cynical; it is called elitism, the idea that government is simply the reflection of the will of wealthy people in society. A political class has concentrated power in society and manipulates the electorate to stay in power. The rules of the game are “rigged,” for example, drawing legislative districts to ensure that politicians are reelected. The expense of campaigns keeps poor people out of the political process. The constitutional system is simply a way to co-opt the people so that they do not revolt. Political scientists argue about who really rules: the majority, the special interest groups, or the elite. As we study each aspect of California government, we will marshal evidence for each position, and you can decide for yourself. As participants in the political system, the question is an important one: why bother voting if the elite are the ones actually in charge? Is it better to join an interest group to make a difference? Perhaps, the elite may sometimes make better decisions than the people who may become an unthinking mob. ORGANIZING THE STUDY OF CALIFORNIA POLITICS So far in this chapter, we have examined political values and how they shape political ideologies and party positions. Then, we introduced debates about who should decide policy, considering direct and representative democracy and their underlying structures of power. As we study politics, there are so many phenomena that we observe that it is helpful to organize our study of politics still further. Political scientists use systems theory as a better way to organize their inquiries. Systems theory simply conceptualizes a subject of study as including three parts: inputs, an exchange mechanism, and outputs. Many areas of life are systems, such as functions of the human body, the ecology of a lake, or the sale of cheeseburgers at a local restaurant. Politics, too, is a system composed of the people, policymaking institutions, and policies. Linkage institutions, such as voting, parties, interest groups, and campaigns connect the people to policymaking institutions 11 | C a l i f o r n i a G o v e r n m e n t a n d P o l i t i c s that include the legislative, executive, and judicial branches that make laws that impact us. See the diagram below. Figure 1.4: The Political System (Almond)4 Using systems theory, we can study how political phenomena interact, how the parts of the system create the whole and how the whole system impacts the parts. For example, whether we vote is based on the confidence we have in our own abilities to understand politics and on our confidence that our votes make a meaningful difference. Political parties organize our thoughts, organize elections, and organize legislative politics. Effective governors both follow and lead public opinion. This text is organized according to systems theory. First, we will study the rules that organize the system: the California Constitution and federalism. The California Constitution organizes the relations among people, policymaking institutions, and policies. Federalism, established by the US Constitution and national law, situates California politics within the larger American context. Key court cases and laws about civil liberties and civil rights will also be discussed. Second, we will study the ways that we actively involve ourselves in politics; developing our public opinion, voting, and joining interest groups and political parties. Third, we will examine policymaking institutions and focus on how to address current issues and challenges facing our state. I welcome you to our study of California politics. 4 Image by Alexa Johnson of the College of the Canyons ZTC Team is licensed under CC BY 4.0 12 | C a l i f o r n i a G o v e r n m e n t a n d P o l i t i c s FOR FURTHER INQUIRY 1. Many excellent websites investigate contemporary California politics and policy. Survey two sites: Calmatters.org and the Public Policy Institute of California. Select one issue of interest to you. Evaluate the tradeoffs among political values when considering what is best to do regarding the issue. Consider liberty, equality, and order, thinking about how you are defining each value. 2. To ascertain your political ideology, find an online survey that will accurately pinpoint your political ideology after you answer quite a few questions. For example, the Pew Research Center survey is a good one. See their accompanying articles about political ideology, too. Do you believe that the survey accurately defined your ideology? 3. To register to vote in California, go to https://registertovote.ca.gov/. You may also pre-register to vote if you are sixteen or seventeen. This will make you automatically able to vote when you turn eighteen. The deadline to register to vote is fifteen days before an election, although you may vote with a provisional ballot on the day of the election after which your residency is verified before your vote is counted. Did you find the process easy? How could it be improved? 4. Go to the Secretary of State of California website and examine some of the proposed ballot measures that proponents are promoting throughout the state. Some may be at the stage where signatures are being gathered by petitions. Others may have cleared this hurdle and be ready to be put on the ballot. Do you believe that they belong on the ballot, or would they be better addressed in the legislature of the Courts? You may also want to look at some of the historical propositions for comparison. 13 | C a l i f o r n i a G o v e r n m e n t a n d P o l i t i c s WORKS CITED Almond, Gabriel A. “Comparative Political Systems.” The Journal of Politics, vol. 18, no. 3, 1956, pp. 391-409, doi:10.2307/2127255. Baldassare, Mark et al., “PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Their Government.” Public Policy Institute of California, Public Policy Institute of California, 26 May 2022, www.ppic.org/publication/ppic-statewide-survey-californians-and-their-governmentmay-2022/. Lasswell, Harold D. Politics: Who Gets What, When, How: With Postscript World, 1963. Scott, Anna. “Homelessness In Los Angeles County Rises Sharply.” NPR, NPR, 12 June 2020, www.npr.org/2020/06/12/875888864/homelessness-in-los-angeles-county-rises-sharply. 14 | C a l i f o r n i a G o v e r n m e n t a n d P o l i t i c s