DIFFERENCES-California and FederalGovernments
Topic
Federal Government
California Government
Constitution
short;27 amendments
very long; over 500 amendments
Division of Powers
federal system,dividing
powers betweennational
and stategovernments
unitary; local governmentsexist
as creationsof stategovt.; in
practice,much local autonomy
Sovereignty
U.S. Const.,laws, treaties
CA Const. and laws under federal
Const.,laws, treaties
Ballot Initiatives
no
yes, from both public and legis.
Referendums
no
yes
Recall Elections
no
yes; more common at local level
Make-Up of Legis.
435 House,100 Senate
80 Assembly,40 Senate
Power of Legis.
strong
moderate(const. restrictions)
Actual Leadership
Speakerof the House;
SenateMajority Leader
Speakerof the Assembly;
Pres.Pro Temporeof Senate
Passageof a Bill
majority of those voting
majority of total membership
Legis. Term Limits
no
yes (Assembly6 yrs., Senate8 yrs.)
Nature of Executive single (one elected)
ElectedExecs.
pres./vice-pres.
(ticket)
Chief Exec. Appoint. powers very strong
plural (severalelected)
governor, lt. gov., attorney genl.,
secty.of state,insurancecommiss.,
supt. of public instruct., treasurer,
controller, board of equalization
powers moderately strong
Chief Exec. Veto
power strong (no line-item) power very strong (line-item veto)
Chief Exec. Staff
over 500
about85
Secondin Command picked by cand.,party (v-p) electedseparatelyby voters (lt. gov.)
Judicial Power
strons
limited by specific constitution
Courts
District and Appellate
Municipal, Superior,Appell.
SupremeCourtPrestige
generally high
fluctuatesover time
JudgeSelection
appointive
electedat lower levels;
appointive at higher levels
JudgeRemoval
impeachment (rare)
recall, failed confirmation by
voters, impeachment,action
by Com. on Jud. Performance
PoliticalParties
shonger (but not strong)
weak (more spec.int. power)
Partieson Ballot
2-4 inmost states
7 @em. & Rep. dominate)
PartyRegistration
35%D;34%R;30%I
4 5 % D ; 3 5 %R ; l 5 % I ; 2 %
AI; l% G;2% All Others
PrimaryElection
closed (in most states)
formerly blanket primary
AbsenteeVoting
usually low (except OR)
high (about 1/4 of ballots)
MassMediaImportance
moderateto high
veryhigh
Campaign$ Restricted
moderately
moderately(Prop. 208)
PrimaryRevenueSource
income taxes (by far)
incometaxes;salestaxes
COMPARISONS:If CaliforniaWasa Country
Size: a little smaller than Sweden,slightly bigger than Japan
Population: comparableto spain or poland; a little larger than canada
Gross State [National] Product: about $1.5 trillion (2009;would be sixth in the world
If cA was a country (after the u.S., Japan,Germany,Britain, and France; ahead
of ItalL China, Canada,and Spain [numbers7 through 10] and all the rest)
DISASTERS:Our potentialNaturalCatastrophes
Earthquake: one similar in size to the 1906 San Franciscoquake (magnitude 8.3), if it
_ - -.hapgenedtoday,could kill thousandsand causebillions of doliars of damage
Landslides/lVludslides:thesekill occasionallyand cost millions in property damage
volcanic Eruption: dormant volcanoespose a threat (Shasta,Lassen,ano . . .)