California Political

California Political

California is a democratic republic with three branches of government: the executive branch consisting of the Governor of California and the other elected constitutional officers;

the legislative branch consisting of the California State Legislature which includes the Assembly and the Senate; and the judicial branch consisting of the Supreme Court of California and lower courts.

The state also allows direct participation of the electorate by initiative, referendum, recall and ratification.

Government is exercised through state agencies and commissions as well as local governments consisting of counties, cities and special districts including school districts.

Constitution and law
Main articles: California Constitution and California law

California's constitution is one of the longest collections of laws in the world, taking up 110 pages. Part of this length is caused by the fact that many voter initiatives take the form of a constitutional amendment.

Many of the individual rights clauses in the state constitution have been construed as providing rights even broader than the Bill of Rights in the federal constitution. An excellent example is the case of Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins, in which "free speech" rights beyond those required by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution were found in the California Constitution by the California courts.

Executive branch
California's executive branch is headed by the Governor. Other executive positions are the Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, State Controller, Insurance Commissioner, and the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. All offices are elected separately to concurrent four-year terms. Each officer may be elected to an office a maximum of two times. Other statewide elected offices that no longer exist include the Comptroller (which became Controller in 1862), the Surveyor General (1849–1926), and the Clerk of the Supreme Court.

The Governor has the powers and responsibilities to: sign or veto laws passed by the Legislature, including a line item veto; appoint judges, subject to ratification by the electorate; propose a state budget; give the annual State of the State address; command the state militia; and grant pardons for any crime, except cases involving impeachment by the Legislature. The Governor and Lieutenant Governor also serve as ex officio members of the University of California Board of Regents.

The Lieutenant Governor is the President of the California Senate and acts as the governor when the Governor is unable to execute the office, including whenever the Governor leaves the state. As the offices are elected separately, the two could conceivably be from separate parties; this was[update] the case with Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi. This has led to interesting scenarios; when Republican Lieutenant Governor Mike Curb was temporarily in power while Democratic Governor Jerry Brown was out of the state, Curb appointed judges to vacant seats and signed or vetoed bills which Brown would have vetoed or signed, respectively

State agencies
State government is organized into several dozen departments, of which most have been grouped together into agencies to reduce the number of people who report directly to the Governor. For example, the California Department of Transportation and the California Highway Patrol are part of the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency.

Legislative branch of California
Constitutional Basis
The basic form of law in California is a republic, governed by democratically elected state Senators and Assembly members. The governing law is a constitution, interpreted by the California Supreme Court, whose members are appointed by the Governor, and ratified at the next general election. The constitution can be changed by initiatives passed by voters. Initiatives can be proposed by the governor, legislature, or by popular petition, giving California one of the most flexible legal systems in the world. The constitution makes the California legislature bicameral, with a Senate and an Assembly.

Redistricting
California's legislature has engaged in some rather unusual redistricting practices (noted in detail in Politics of California#Bi-partisan gerrymandering). The result is that virtually all Assembly and Senate district lines have been drawn in a way so as to favor one party or the other, and it is rare for a district to suddenly shift party allegiance.

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