California Politics
Midterm Study Guide
Tuesday, November 3
in class, 80 minutes, bring blue books
Part I. Identifications. When you review your lecture notes and the readings for each
week, pull out important people, political science concepts, propositions, phrases in
italics, and other items that we might ask you to identify. Be prepared to identify or
define the items, and write a few sentences about their importance in California politics
(in about five minute each). Here are some examples:
Citizens Redistricting Commission
Shrimp Hour
Item veto
Petition Referendum
Jesse Unruh
Professional Legislature
People v. Anderson (1972)
Top Two Primary
Tom Hayden
Select and Elect
Prop. 140
Compulsory Referendum
Artie Samish
The Progressive Movement
Polarization
East-West Divide
Plural Executive
Part II. Short Answer Essays. These can come in a number of forms, like “compare and
contrast the initiative with the referendum with the compulsory referendum,” “discuss the
following statement: ,” or “compare various reform proposals relating to ….” For instance,
we might ask you to describe what is needed, both technically and practically, to pass an
initiative in California, and give you ten minutes to do so. The best answers will use
material from the readings to illustrate concepts brought up in lecture.
Part III. Prepared Long Essay. We are going to choose one of the three following essays:
1. The Cycles of Legislative Power. You are the one hundred year-old lobbyist for
the University of California, and you are always trying to pass a law reducing student fees.
Making reference to the lessons in lectures, in the Cain, Kousser and Kurtz chapter, and in
at least one other reading, describe what strategies you used to pass this law in the Artie
Samish days, in the era of professionalization, and after term limits.
2. Reforming the Progressive Reforms. California’s initiative process is 101 years
old; what can we do to ensure that it functions the way that Hiram Johnson originally
intended? First, use evidence from lectures and readings to evaluate whether the initiative
has had the effects that Progressives intended, and then propose and defend your own idea
for updating this reform.
3. The Role of Parties. Describe the role of parties in one of three California political
processes: budget bargaining, redistricting wars, or district campaigns. Describe how each
process works and talk about what parties can (and can’t) do to affect it. What does this say
about the strength of California’s parties?
Extra Credit. Biography. We’ll ask you to tell us about one of our beginning of lecture
biography topics and what this person tells us about California politics.