Note on California Politics
I’ve got a question for Kevin Drum. You and I presumably agree that California Republicans and Democrats are both exceptionally awful, so much so that it’s hard to even think about this state’s politics without despairing. Indeed, I’ll bet that despite our differences in political philosophy, we could hammer out some mutually agreed upon changes that would result in a 600 percent improvement in public policy.
But I also bet we’ll wind up voting differently come November. The last time Democrats controlled the statehouse and the governor’s mansion, Gray Davis and the legislature incurred some egregiously unsustainable costs related to state employees, whose unions are such a powerful interest group here. I’ll be the first to acknowledge the utter dysfunction of California Republicans, our current governor very much included, but I’m terrified to death that the end of divided government is going to maximize the chance that more catastrophic craziness passes into law. And I find it very hard to believe that unified government under Jerry Brown and the current legislature is going to bring about any significant reforms.
Am I wrong?
Yes, because divided government has just done WONDERS for California these past 7 years.
California’s problem is not that there’s too little division of power. There’s too much, not just within the legislature but also between the legislature and the popular will (think propositions and referenda).
At some point, a party just needs to be able to, y’know, GOVERN, try out its approach to California’s public policy problems, and face the rewards or consequences from the voters.
— Ernie VT · Jul 22, 12:55 PM · #
California’s government is so much worse than other state governments because of structural problems which make it hard for the elected government to choose policies. Supermajority requirements get in the way of setting policy and referenda force policies on them, and it becomes very difficult to get a coherent set of policies enacted. Divided government only makes that worse.
The government also makes some bad choices when it is able to act, like overpaying state employees, but that kind of mistake is not what sets them apart from the rest of the country. That particular mistake is also one that seems unlikely to be repeated if the Democrats get back in power.
— Brad · Jul 22, 05:04 PM · #
California’s supermajority requirements for both budget and taxes make it so that the elected majority party can’t implement the policies they are elected to enact. Prop. 13’s limitations on property taxes concentrated power in Sacramento while also reducing revenue from property taxes (a relatively predictable tax). This has forced the government to rely more on income taxes (a relatively unpredictable tax) leaving revenues highly vulnerable to business cycle volatility.
— Somerset Perry · Jul 23, 06:03 AM · #