Pros And Cons Of California

Due to recent political upset and turmoil in the United States government, there has been a growing movement among some California residents that their state should secede and form a new country. However outlandish this idea may seem to some some individuals, secession may actually prove to be more beneficial for California citizens in the long run. There have already been a few proposals for how to split of the state of California in order to make it more governable. However, these ideas simple chop California into pieces rather than addresses the root of the issue. Because of California’s unique political ideology and efficient government system, it would be most beneficial for the state to secede from the United States in order to escape

Because of California’s essentially simple procedures for ratifying the Constitution, there have been over 500 amendments made to it since its inception in the late 1800s. Because of the government’s proactive approach on this document throughout the past hundred years, “California’s constitution tracks the structure of the contemporary constitutional order far more closely than does the U.S. Constitution” (Griffin, 2009). Instead of letting a document rule the state, the state made it so that the document always reflected the political ideals of the time period. California also brought these ideals into its voting system. The state was one of the first to enact an open primary system for elections, so that a voter with affiliation to any political party could vote in the primaries. This way, the primary elections were based on overall majority vote so that party candidates had to convince all voter, not just ones from their party, to vote for them. This way, “more moderate candidates are elected on both sides of the aisle – candidates that more accurately reflect the views of the broader electorate” (Hilsman, 2017). For California, it is more important to have the majority of voters’ views be represented rather than just the winning parties’

Unlike the federal government and most state governments, California’s politics are not ruled by two conflicting political views vying for power. Instead, “California has found a more moderate, pragmatic path to governance” (Hilsman, 2017). The more moderate views of the two main parties discussed previously also greatly effects how the state government functions as a whole, especially when it comes to decide what to do with the world’s 8th largest economy. A great example of this unity and cooperation can be seen when Governor Jerry Brown proposed his budget proposal for the new fiscal year back in 2016. The budget coincided with the views of the majority population by putting money towards education and healthcare. One journalist even heralded the process by stating that it offered evidence for how, “California is leading the was in envisioning a political system that can actually get things done” (Hilsman,