Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Chapter 2 focuses on the political culture and development of California. Understanding
the variety of political subcultures found in California (traditionalistic, moralistic,
and individualistic) helps to put in context the political and policy challenges facing
the state today. Let's start by taking a look at "political culture," or the product of
historical events, migration, and settlement patterns, and presence of various social groups.
Political culture is characterized by shared beliefs, values, customs and symbols. The
culture includes three major subcultures: Traditionalistic -- dominance of a small,
self-perpetuating ruling elite and large, compliant non-elite; Moralistic -- A public-spirited
citizenry dedicated to the common betterment of all citizens. Widespread participation
valued and expected. Politics is a high calling; and Individualistic, which emphasizes the
goals, aspirations and initiative of private individuals or groups. Government exists to
serve those interests. Policy is transactional. Let's now move on to the concept of political
development, which refers to the growth and change that occurs within political systems.
It includes government's increasing capacity to manage its own affairs, respond to demands
placed upon it, and do so in a stable manner, an increase in democratic values including
the furthering of civil society, political participation, rule of law and equality, and
an increase in economic specialization and complex social structures leading to group
conflict and methods to resolve it. California's political history is a progression of developmental
stages: unification, modernization, welfare, and abundance. Historic events and a succession
of political and economic leaders have shaped each stage. In the unification stage, Spanish
and Mexican control gave way to what has been called an American era, which included statehood
and the development of a constitution. The modernization period featured the famous Gold
Rush, the rise of the Southern Pacific Railroad, the development of water resources, the industrialization
of agriculture, discovery of oil, and the impacts of World War II. In the politics of
welfare, Government's task is to shield citizenry from hardship, manage a smooth running economy,
improve standards of living and assist less fortunate. In this period, the Progressive
Movement weakened political parties, encourage voters to make decisions previously reserved
for elected representatives, and the Great Depression accelerated demands for public
assistance. The politics of welfare was noted for economic growth, progressive policies,
and visionary leadership by leaders such as Earl Warren and Edmund G. "Pat" Brown. Warren,
who grew up in Bakersfield and would later become chief justice of the Supreme Court,
was elected three times. During this tenure, the state saw great strides in education and
various social programs; improvements to pensions, unemployment benefits, medical care, labor
laws, prisons and mental hospitals; as well as a freeway building program. Pat Brown's
tenure included funding of the State Water Project to provide infrastructure to move
vast amounts of water from the mountains to the growing Bay Area and Southern California
cities. It also included the Master Plan for Higher Education, which made access to higher
education by all Californians part of the state's implicit social contract. The Warren
and Brown eras were referred to as "responsible liberalism." During the politics of abundance
period, growth and prosperity continue but some Californians question whether the state
is beginning to choke on its success. In this period, a growing economy provided taxes to
fund a social welfare state. Policies were majoritarian: The majority paid for them and
received their benefits. But also during this period, Gov. Ronald Reagan tried to reverse
the policies of growth and Jerry Brown declared "small is beautiful" and claimed that California
was living an an "era of limits." Also during this period, Republican governors such as
Reagan, George Deukmejian and Pete Wilson believes that government was part of the problem,
not part of the solution. At the end of the chapter, the text considers whether the politics
of abundance will continue indefinitely into the future and how the politics of diversity
affect these perceptions. While the state's population growth has slowed dramatically,
many governing challenges, short and long term, remain. While past leaders may have
structured a political system equipped for their time, today's leaders face profound
issues stemming from the state's size, diversity and hyperpluralistic politics.