CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO CALIFORNIA POLITICS
INTRODUCTION
“It's 90 degrees in November, the full glory and perennial curse of Southern California on fierce display. Devil winds, hill-hopping infernos, smoked mansions, torched trailers, barren freeways, and brilliant sunsets lingering in low-hanging canopies of burnt dreams. Are we all crazy? Don't live here, says the wind, the trembling earth, the parched land whose natural inclination is to explode in flame every year about now. But we do. Don't build near the kindling, say the voices of common sense. But we do, for all the wrong reasons and all the known glories. Our winter snowfall is flakes of ash and flame retardant falling on bougainvillea, so it could be worse. The Earth shakes. The fires rage. The population expands. And the sunsets are brilliant, especially this time of year.”
-Steve Lopez, columnist for the Los Angeles Times November 17, 2008 “Everyone is welcome. As you know, I'm an immigrant. I came over here as an immigrant. What gave me the opportunities, what made me be able to be here today, is the open arms of Americans. I have been received. I have been adopted to America. I have gotten all the opportunities because of America. I have seen first hand, coming over here, with empty pockets, but full of dreams, full of desire, full of will, to succeed. But with the opportunities that I had available, I could make it. And that's what I want everyone to be able to do. This is why we have to get back and bring California back where it once was.”
– Arnold Schwarzenegger, upon announcing his intention to run for governor of California in 2003

The state of California has been the pace-setter for political, cultural, and technological development to the nation, where dreams begin and are realized. California has a rich political history, a remarkably diverse population, and an exciting future. The Golden State is literally and symbolically a global phenomenon. It is both the most populous state and the most diverse; its people match its geology. In terms of economics, it is an international force in trade and commerce, higher education, scientific research, entertainment, and technology. However, the same features that drive its success also present a host of challenges; the abundance of opportunities are attended with challenges in energy production, environmental protection, elementary and secondary education, providing for the poor, general health, and the well-being of the population. CALIFORNIA’S POLITICAL CULTURE
Political culture is the set of ideas and values Americans share about who should govern, for what ends, and by what means. California’s political culture is characterized by the settlement patterns that occurred during nineteenth- and twentieth-century migration. Political scientist Daniel Elazar recognized that while the United States shares a general political culture, three distinct subcultures can be identified. These cultures were established at the earliest founding of the nation and were distributed geographically with the migration of the founders and their progeny. The shared culture is characterized by the tension between viewing the political arena as a marketplace as opposed to a commonwealth. The typology of culture Elazar introduces reflects the sociocultural differences of immigrants settling in the states. The three subcultures identified are moralistic, individualistic, and traditionalistic.[1] Each subculture has a unique value system that shapes the ways in which individuals view political competition, policy goals, and the roles of the citizen within the polity. According to the theories, the individualist sees the political system as a marketplace established for utilitarian purposes. As such, the role of government should be limited, as personal freedom is revered as the primary attribute of society. The role of the individual in politics is characterized by what the player will gain from participation. The quest for self-interest makes politics a dirty business. For this reason, corruption in government and politics is generally expected and accepted.
Much in contrast to the individualist, the moralistic culture sees the political arena as a commonwealth. For the moralist, politics is the search for the “good society.” Individual participation is not only encouraged, but expected, as it is the civic duty of every citizen in the advancement of society. Contrary to the individualist, the government is a positive instrument with the responsibility to promote the general welfare, rejecting the notion that politics is the forum for self-interest. For this reason, there is no room for corruption. The government takes an active role, allowing for intervention into the economic and social life of the community, in pursuit of the common good.
Finally, the traditionalist culture, very distinct from the other two, is characterized by an ambivalent attitude toward the marketplace, and it embodies a paternalistic and elitist conception of the commonwealth. The traditionalist accepts hierarchical society as part of the “ordered nature of things.” For the traditionalist, the role of government is to maintain the status quo, with political power confined to a small group of elites in society. Individuals are not encouraged, nor are they expected to participate in government; thus politics is characterized by nepotism in a single-party system.
Elazar's geographical mappings feature California as a mixture of individualistic and moralistic cultures, which often exist in tension. These tensions are evident in policy debates in California’s legislature and in popular initiatives proposed and enacted by the people. California’s 1994 smoking ban illustrates these tensions. The debate ensuing pitted a community’s desire for a healthy environment against individual smokers who felt their rights were under assault, and from bar owners who wanted to protect their profits by catering to smokers.
California’s Individualistic Culture
Various regions within California display these differing cultures. The southern part of the state was settled by white Protestants from the Midwest, Great Plains, and South, who immigrated to southern California from the late nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth century, making it the most conservative part of the state. Following this influx, anticommunist conservatives and the John Birch Society began settling in southern California during the 1950s and 1960s, and middle- and upper-class whites who found work in the defense and manufacturing industries after World War II purchased homes in suburban Orange County. Several factors contributed to California’s individualistic leanings during the mid-twentieth century, including a large white population, migration of World War II veterans, affordable home ownership, economic growth and prosperity, and Protestantism.[2] The conservatism of southern California is mitigated by the increase in minorities in the region. African Americans who were affected by the Great Depression came to southern California seeking jobs following World War II, and settled into the urban centers. Additionally, Latino and Asian immigrants joined an existing community of Latinos in urban Los Angeles and its surroundings further moderating the conservatism of the area.
The Central Valley has economic and settlement roots in agriculture and was predominantly a conservative Democratic area; however this has changed with migration of whites from the coastal regions of California and increases in Republican registration are more common. The region is characterized by a migration of people from Oklahoma and Arkansas during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression. Its political culture reflects the dominance of agribusiness and a large white population.[3]
California’s Moralistic Culture
Northern California and the Bay Area are characterized by Elazar’s moralistic culture. The Gold Rush invited immigrants from across the United States and beyond as Italian, Irish, German, and Chinese immigrants sought to enjoy the boom. Explanations for its liberalism and communal perspective include explosive growth during the nineteenth century; its role as a major seaport and international outlook; and settlement by New Englanders. Just as southern California’s conservatism has been moderated by the heterogeneity of its inhabitants, so too is northern California’s liberalism mitigated by high-tech industry in the Silicon Valley and suburbs.
Elazar’s typology aside, California’s voting habits reflect the various ideological and religious influences of the settlement patterns discussed above. The map below illustrating support for Proposition 8 that appeared on the November 4, 2008 ballot (more detail in Chapter 4) is illustrative. The measure changes the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California, by providing that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.

THE PEOPLE OF CALIFORNIA
Population
While it is only the third-largest state in terms of land area, California supports the largest population in the nation. This affords California the largest delegation to the House of Representatives (53), and the largest allocation of votes in the Electoral College (55). As of January 1, 2008, California’s population exceeded 38.05 million people, according to the state Department of Finance’s estimates, a 1.8 percent increase from the previous year. Californians represent nearly one in eight Americans, comprising 12.5 percent of the U.S. population. The figure reflects an increase of 462,000 new residents between 2005 and 2006, a growth rate of 1.25 percent; this figure continued the pattern of slower growth rates each year since the year 2000, when California saw an increase of 2.0 percent. The highest population growth rates have occurred mainly in the Central Valley and foothill counties, and in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties in southern California.
California’s Cities. California currently boasts 18 cities with populations exceeding 200,000, as Huntington Beach in Orange County passed 200,000 in population to reach 200,763 in 2005. Los Angeles is home to over 3.9 million residents.
California’s Counties. Of California’s 10 most populated counties, nine have over one million residents and these 10 counties include Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside, Santa Clara, Alameda, Sacramento, Contra Costa, and Fresno, at nearly 900,000 residents. The counties of Orange and San Diego each exceed three million, and 10,292,723 call Los Angeles County home, which is the most populous county in the nation, representing nearly 28 percent of the state’s population. The county of Alpine is the smallest, with 1,256.[4] The five southern California counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego accounted for 55 percent of California’s total population in 2004. These same counties represent 59 percent of the total increase in population since 1999. Los Angeles County experienced the largest absolute increase since 1999—more than three-quarters of a million new people, or a quarter of statewide growth.[5]
Ethnic Groups
People from all parts of the world have come to California, drawn by its opportunities for economic success. California’s governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, an immigrant himself, made many references to his own California dream during his bid for governor. The original Native Americans have become a very small percentage of the population, one of many ethnic minorities in California. While tribal members represent only 1 percent of the population, their 300,000 plus members are the largest such group in any state. Non-Latino whites are still the largest demographic group in the state, although the California Current Population Survey Report of March 2004 revealed that they constitute 46.6 percent of the population, no longer an absolute majority of the residents of the Golden State. One out of every four Californians was born outside the United States, a fact reflected by the population’s racial, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural richness.[6] According to the Department of Finance, California was home to the largest number of immigrants (27.4 percent of the nation’s total) in 2002. California attracted as many immigrants as New York, Florida, and Texas combined. The legal immigration rate was 6.3 per 1,000 people residing in the state in the year 2005.[7] The state also sustains major populations of Iranian, Armenian, Asian Indian, Vietnamese, and other populations, the vast majority of them first-generation immigrants.
Immigrants. Forty-nine percent of the state’s 2002 immigrants were born in Latin America and the Caribbean, primarily Mexico, and almost 40 percent were born in Asia, including the Philippines, People’s Republic of China, India, Vietnam, Iran, Korea, and Taiwan. [8]
Latinos. Residents of Latin heritage represent about one-third of the population of California, roughly 33 percent of California’s population. This increase is largely due to new births in California (70 percent). While Los Angeles is one of the largest Mexican cities,[9] the Hispanic population grew in every county. According to California’s Department of Finance, Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino Counties had the largest increases, while Imperial County in the far southern part of the state continued to have the highest percentage, reaching 72 percent by the year 2000. Central California’s Latinos have influence in this region due to farm labor union activism and a growing urban population with increased political clout. The majority of Hispanics trace their heritage to Mexico. Mexican Americans have traditionally come for economic reasons. From 1951 to 1964, the governments of the United States and Mexico had a formal agreement to permit Mexican workers, or “braceros,” to enter the U.S. legally to work in the fields of California farms. This program was abandoned, however, under pressure from organized labor. Since then, the flow of immigrants seeking a better life has not halted; the United States has simply made it illegal.
The 1980s ushered in a new wave of immigrants in California from Central America. In countries such as El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala, political unrest, civil war, and economic devastation forced large numbers to seek safety and asylum elsewhere. Many of these immigrants came as political refugees; others followed unlawful paths across the border.
The flood of Spanish-speaking immigrants created tension among Californians. Through the initiative process, California voters have passed numerous laws aimed at these groups. Proposition 38 in 1984 required all voting materials to be printed in English only, but the law was invalidated because it conflicted with federal law. Also meaningless was Proposition 63 in 1986, which declared English the official language of California. In 1994, the people of California passed Proposition 187, which forbade children living in California illegally to enroll in public schools and denied welfare to illegal residents. Ultimately, the federal government adopted the welfare provisions, and federal courts declared the education provisions unconstitutional.
Asians. While Caucasians and Latinos represent the largest ethnic groups in California, residents of Asian origin are the fastest-growing population. Chinese immigrants arrived in California during the Gold Rush, while many more were brought to the state in the 1860s to work on the railroad. Japanese and Filipino immigrants arrived later, in the early part of the twentieth century. Koreans, Taiwanese, Thais, and Pacific Islanders have all followed. One of the more notable influxes was that of the Vietnamese, who came following the fall of Saigon. Camp Pendleton was the west coast port of entry for refugees fleeing the communist government, and many stayed to become residents and citizens of California. Over a million Chinese Americans and over a million Filipino Americans reside in California. Today, residents of Asian heritage account for approximately 11.6 percent of the state’s population.[10]
The United States has not always been friendly to immigrants from the Far East. In 1881, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which temporarily halted immigration from China. In 1924, Congress passed the National Immigration Act, which effectively halted Japanese immigration. In California, laws passed in the Progressive Era banned land ownership by aliens, and the incarceration of Japanese residents during World War II is a painful part of our history. Nevertheless, Asian Americans have become a vital and important part of the California cultural and economic landscape.
African Americans. During World War II, large numbers of southern blacks left their homes to seek urban jobs created by the booming war economy. Many came to California and settled in urban areas in southern California, where the black population grew steadily from the 1940s to the 1960s. Since then, however, it has remained at slightly over 6 percent of the population, according to the census.
Of the minority groups in California, African Americans achieved political success earlier than other groups. At the state level, the longest-serving speaker of the assembly was Willie Brown, a black attorney from San Francisco. In Congress, in the legislature, and on city councils, black officials have been prominent for years. Tom Bradley, Los Angeles’ first African American mayor and the first black mayor of a major city who served an unprecedented five terms, was elected during the social and political turmoil of the early 1970s. Indeed, today there are emerging political problems, as cities such as Inglewood and Compton continue to be governed by blacks, while their populations become increasingly Latino.
In much of the rest of the country, the topic of race relations refers primarily to blacks and whites. California is much more diverse. The state was Spanish, then Mexican, then American, and now includes a rich mix of Latino, Caucasian, Asian, black, and Native American peoples. With this incredible diversity, the state has entered the twenty-first century.