Wikipedia

Government of California

Thegovernment of Californiais the governmental structure of theU.S. stateofCaliforniaas established by theCalifornia Constitution.California uses theseparation of powerssystem to structure its government. It is composed of threebranches:the executive, consisting of thegovernor of Californiaand the other constitutionally elected and appointed officers and offices; the legislative, consisting of theCalifornia State Legislature,which includes theAssemblyand theSenate;and the judicial, consisting of theSupreme Court of Californiaand lower courts. There is also local government, consisting ofcounties,cities,special districts,andschool districts,as well as government entities and offices that operate independently on aconstitutional,statutory,orcommon lawbasis. The state also allows direct participation of the electorate byinitiative,referendum,recallandratification.

Executive branch

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Main article:California executive branch

California's elected executive officers are:

Stanford Mansionis the official reception center for the California government and one of the workplaces of thegovernor of California.

All offices are elected separately to concurrent four-year terms, and each officer may be elected to an office a maximum of two times.[1][2]The governor has the powers and responsibilities to:signorvetolawspassed by theLegislature,including aline item veto;appoint judges, subject toratificationby theelectorate;propose astate budget;give the annualState of the State address;command the statemilitia;and grantpardonsfor any crime, except cases involvingimpeachment by the Legislature.[3]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.[4]The governor and lieutenant governor also serve asex officiomembers of theUniversity of CaliforniaBoard of Regentsand of theCalifornia State UniversityBoard of Trustees.[5]Regulatory activity is published in theCalifornia Regulatory Notice Registerand the general and permanent rules and regulations are codified in theCalifornia Code of Regulations.[6]

State agencies

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See also:List of California state agencies
California Department of Justice
California Department of General Services
California Department of Health Care Services
California Environmental Protection Agency

State government is organized into many departments, of which most have been grouped together into several huge Cabinet-level agencies since the administration of GovernorPat Brown.These agencies are sometimes informally referred to assuperagencies,especially by government officials, to distinguish them from the general usage of the term "government agency".[7][8]When Brown took office, he was dismayed to discover that underCalifornia law,approximately 360 boards, commissions, and agencies all reported directly to the governor, and proposed his "super-agency" plan (then spelled with a hyphen) in February 1961 to impose order on such chaos.[9]Brown appointed the secretaries of the first four superagencies (of eight then planned) in September 1961.[10]

The superagencies operate as "umbrella organizations"[7]or "semiautonomous fiefdoms," but their Cabinet-level secretaries are not quite as powerful as they may appear at first glance.[11]The governor continues to directly appoint the leaders of superagency components. The appointments are announced by the governor rather than by the secretaries, who are merely a layer of management installed to ensure that the components of their respective superagencies can stay outside of the governor's "routine attention span" (unless something goes wrong).[11]Today, the Cabinet-level agencies (superagencies) are the:[12]

The independently elected officers run separate departments not grouped within the superagencies, and there are other Cabinet-level departments:

Independent entities

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Most (but not all) of the leaders of these entities are normally appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate. Despite their independence, the governor can exert influence on them over time by waiting for incumbent leaders to reach the ends of their terms and appointing new ones who support the governor's current agenda.[13]

Examples include the:

Legislative branch

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TheCalifornia State Capitolhosts theCalifornia Assemblyand theCalifornia Senate,the two houses of the California State Legislature.
Main article:California State Legislature

The California State Legislature is the state legislature. It is abicameralbody consisting of theCalifornia State Assembly,the lower house with 80 members, and theCalifornia State Senate,the upper house with 40 members.[14]Members of the Assembly serve two-year terms; members of the Senate serve four-year terms, with half of the seats up for election on alternate (two year) election cycles.[14]

Thespeaker of the California State Assemblypresides over the State Assembly. Thelieutenant governoris theex officiopresident of the Senate and may break a tied vote, and thepresident pro tempore of the California State Senateis elected by the majority party caucus.

The Legislature meets in theCalifornia State CapitolinSacramento.Itssession lawsare published in theCalifornia Statutesand codified into the 29California Codes.

Judicial branch

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The Supreme Court of California is headquartered in San Francisco (top), but also hears oral argument each year at Sacramento (bottom) and Los Angeles.
Main article:Judiciary of California
See also:Supreme Court of California,Judicial Council of California,California Superior Courts,andCalifornia Courts of Appeal

The judiciary of California interprets and applies the law, and is defined under the Constitution, law, and regulations. The judiciary has a hierarchical structure with the Supreme Court at the apex. The superior courts are the primary trial courts, and the courts of appeal are the primary appellate courts.

The Judicial Council is the rule-making arm of the judiciary.[15][16]

The California Supreme Court consists of thechief justice of Californiaand six associate justices. The court hasoriginal jurisdictionin a variety of cases, includinghabeas corpusproceedings, and has discretionary authority to review all the decisions of the California courts of appeal, as well as mandatory review responsibility for cases where thedeath penaltyhas been imposed. The courts of appeal are theintermediate appellate courts.The state is geographically divided into six appellate districts.[17][18]Notably, all published California appellate decisions are binding on all superior courts, regardless of appellate district.[19]

The California superior courts are the courts ofgeneral jurisdictionthat hear and decide any civil or criminal action which is not specially designated to be heard before some other court or governmental agency. As mandated by the Constitution, each of the 58 counties has a superior court.[20]The superior courts also have appellate divisions (superior court judges sitting as appellate judges) which hear appeals from decisions of other superior court judges (or commissioners, or judges pro tem) in cases previously heard by inferior courts, such asinfractions,misdemeanors,and "limited civil" actions (actions where theamount in controversyis below $25,000).

Direct democracy

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Main article:Propositions in California

The state constitution allowsdirect participationof the electorate byinitiative,referendum,andrecall.

Watchdog evaluations

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In a 2015 review by the nonprofitCenter for Public Integrityof how effectively states promote transparency and procedures to reduce corruption, California received a C−, the second-highest grade in the country.[21]It ranked particularly low in publicaccess to informationand judicial transparency.[21]

In 2005,Pew Research Center's Government Performance Project gave California a grade C−, tied for last with Alabama.[22]By 2008, when the last report was issued, California had a C, which placed it near the bottom of the states.[23]In discussing the results, the report noted that the personnel system is known to be dysfunctional, and that the Human Resources Modernization Project was underway to address the issue.[24]

Local government

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Main article:Local government in California

California is divided into counties which are legal subdivisions of the state.[25]There are 58 counties, 482 California cities,[26]about 1,102 school districts,[27]and about 3,400special districts.[28]Counties and incorporated cities may promulgatelocal ordinances,which are usually codified in county or city codes, respectively, and aremisdemeanorcrimes unless otherwise specified asinfractions.[29]School districts,which are independent of cities and counties, handle public education.[27]Special Districts deliver specific public programs and public facilities to constituents, and are defined as "any agency of the state for the local performance of governmental or proprietary functions within limited boundaries".[30]

See also

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References

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  1. ^Alfieri, Joe (18 October 2010). "Jerry Brown defies intent of California term limits".Contra Costa County Conservative Examiner.Examiner.
  2. ^Constitution of California, article 5, section 2
  3. ^Ferguson, Margaret R., ed. (2006)."Roles, Functions, and Powers of the Governors".The Executive Branch of State Government: People, Process and Politics.ABC-CLIO.Archived fromthe originalon 2013-10-23.Retrieved2014-03-13.
  4. ^In re Governorship,26 Cal.3d 110,401 (Supreme Court of California 1979) ( "we conclude that the Lieutenant Governor has authority to exercise all gubernatorial powers of appointment while the Governor is physically absent from the state and that the Governor has authority to withdraw the appointment until the confirmation of appointment becomes effective." ).
  5. ^"Overview, Board of Trustees".California State University.Archived fromthe originalon 1 February 2010.Retrieved15 June2011.
  6. ^Watt, Robert; Johns, Francis (2009).Concise Legal Research.Federation Press. p. 223.ISBN978-1-862-87723-8.
  7. ^abVan Vechten, Renée B. (2011).California Politics: A Primer(2nd ed.). Los Angeles: SAGE. p. 63.ISBN9781452203065.Retrieved25 February2019.
  8. ^Lawrence, David G.; Cummins, Jeffrey (2019).California: The Politics of Diversity(10th ed.). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 167.ISBN9781538129302.
  9. ^Blanchard, Robert (February 14, 1961). "Brown Criticized for His Super-Agency Proposal".Los Angeles Times.p. 1.Available throughProQuestHistorical Newspapers.
  10. ^Gillam, Jerry (October 1, 1961). "Brown Picks 8-Member Cabinet: Four Named to Head New State Super-Agencies".Los Angeles Times.p. 1.Available throughProQuestHistorical Newspapers.
  11. ^abLawrence, David G.; Cummins, Jeffrey (2019).California: The Politics of Diversity(10th ed.). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 168.ISBN9781538129302.
  12. ^"Governor Brown's Government Reorganization Plan Becomes Law".Office of theGovernor of California.3 July 2012. Archived fromthe originalon 18 October 2012.Retrieved26 July2012.
  13. ^Kerr, Clark (2001).The Gold and the Blue: A Personal Memoir of the University of California, 1949-1967, Volume 2.Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 301.ISBN9780520925014.Retrieved3 July2020.
  14. ^abConstitution of California,article 4, section 2(a)
  15. ^Constitution of California,Article 6, Section 6(d)
  16. ^"Judicial Council".Judicial Council of California.
  17. ^Constitution of California,Article 6, § 3
  18. ^California Government Code§ 69100
  19. ^Auto Equity Sales, Inc. v. Superior Court,,57 Cal. 2d 450, 369 P.2d 937, 20 Cal. Rptr. 321(1962).
  20. ^Constitution of California,Article 6, § 4
  21. ^ab"California gets C- grade in 2015 State Integrity Investigation".Center for Public Integrity.2015-11-09.Retrieved2016-12-05.
  22. ^"State civil service reform: California's Human Resource Modernization project in a comparative perspective - SEIU Local 1000".seiu1000.org.Archived fromthe originalon 2016-12-20.Retrieved2016-12-04.
  23. ^Johnson, Neal."NLPES/NALFO Seminar Madison, Wisconsin September 26, 2008"(PDF).Pew Center on States.[permanent dead link‍]
  24. ^"Grading the States 2008: Pew's 50-State Report Card Evaluates How States Manage Public Resources".pewtrusts.org.Retrieved2016-12-05.
  25. ^Constitution of California,article 11, section 1
  26. ^"Learn About Cities".League of California Cities.Archived fromthe originalon 21 October 2013.Retrieved13 March2014.
  27. ^abIndividual State Descriptions: 2007(PDF),2007 Census of Governments,United States Census Bureau,November 2012, pp. 25–26
  28. ^Mizany, Kimia; Manatt, April.What's So Special About Special Districts? A Citizen's Guide to Special Districts in California(PDF)(3 ed.). California Senate Local Government Committee. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2011-07-04.Retrieved2008-12-09.
  29. ^California Government Code§§ 25132, 36900et seq.
  30. ^California Government Code§ 16271(d)
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