posc 100 midterm 2

any league or union of people or bodies of people (soverign states)

a system of political organization in which most or all of the governing power resides in a centralized government, in contrast to a federal state. (UK)

A system of government where there is a central body and smaller bodies (Federal and states)

the capacity of the states to regulate behavior and enforce order within their territory for the betterment of the health, safety, morals, and general welfare of their inhabitants.

limit things; in order for us to do what we’re supposed to do, we are going to pass that law. Somebody will be punished if they disobey

local governments are “creatures of the state” and have no inherent rights or powers except those given to them by the state constitution or legislature.

racial/ethnic composition: 39% Latino, 35% white, 15% Asian, 5% Black, 4% multiracial, 1% >Native American
partisan composition: 47% of registered voters are Democrats, 24% are Republicans, and 23% are independents
economics: very liberal with high taxes
quality of life: bad for low income, great for high income

Similarities: Branches of government (both divide powers into legislative, judicial, and executive branches); Both items can be amended as well as a bill of rights. (ca has strong defense of property rights in there); Bicameral legislature

Differences: Federal is short and ca is long (has rules and architecture, catching fish, etc); Federal is unitary executive and ca is plural executive; president has veto but governor has the line item veto;

executive authority to nullify or cancel specific provisions of a bill, usually a budget appropriations bill, without vetoing the entire legislative package.

the power of the Governor is limited and distributed amongst other government officials. In other words, there is not one government official in CA that is solely responsible for the CA Executive Branch.

Manipulating the boundaries of electoral zones to better favor an outcome

Mandatory: Legislature passes and governor signs a proposed constitutional amendment. 50% of voters must approve for constitution to be changed

Optional: Legislature passes and governor signs a law. Petition signed by 5% of the voters from the last gubernatorial election to have a repeal vote

2003: Gray Davis recalled for Arnold Schwarzenegger
2021: Newsom not recalled. Close race but Larry Elder did not replace him

Citizens Redistricting Commission. CA districts are drawn by normal citizens and not by members of a political party. 65% democrat, 20% republican state by population, but the commission is equal parts per party.

Limits plural executive to 2 terms, senate to 2 terms, state representatives to 3 terms, requiring legislators to participate in federal social security, limits legislative operating costs

40% of general fund must be spent on K-14 education

Repealed the Road Repair and Accountability Act. Failed to pass.

limits the property tax rate to 1% of assessed value at the time of purchase and restricts annual tax increases to no more than 2% until the property is sold. Proposition 13 also requires that all state tax increases be approved by two-thirds of the legislature and that special taxes levied by local governments be approved by two-thirds of voters.

also known as the "Gas Tax", aimed at repairing roads, improving traffic safety, and expanding public transit systems across the state. Includes fuel tax, value based transport improvedment fee, price based excise tax, EV fees

progressive: More money = More taxed
regressive: Less money = more taxed
flat: everyone pays the same percentage
categories: Sales, income (includes investments), user taxes (form of tax not on the product itself but it costs a lot to use. Mainly vehicle registration fees), corporate

~30% is spent on health and human services (Medicaid etc)
~40% on K-12 education
~12% on higher education
~10% goes to prisons
~10% is leftover for other things

Lots of income leads to boom and lots of defecit leads to bust.
Unhealthy fiscal politics are when you’re way off. Either frequently underestimating revenue, overestimating revenue, or the worst is having no idea whatsoever.
Boom and Bust is not an accident, it is a product of how we set up the budgetary system and there will always be attempts to fix it

states have set aside less than is needed to cover the expected full costs of benefits earned by their employees

Medi-Cal is California's Medicaid health care program. This program pays for a variety of medical services for children and adults with limited income and resources

The law made some non-violent property crimes, where the value does not exceed $950, into misdemeanors. It also made some simple drug possession offenses into misdemeanors

The Proposition allows parole consideration for nonviolent felons. Issue arises with what is a nonviolent crime.
The law’s definition of “violent” excludes crimes such as sex trafficking of children, rape of an unconscious person, battery on a police officer or firefighter, and felony domestic violence

provided legal guidelines and $9.95 billion in general obligation bonds for the California high- speed rail program and related transportation projects

The state must set aside 1.5 percent of General Fund revenues each year, plus additional dollars in years when tax revenues from capital gains are particularly strong into a rainy day fund

cut spending and raise taxes

Government has no power that it hasn’t been explicitly handed

a fundamental right in the Constitution that protects against unlawful and indefinite imprisonment

law that retroactively makes criminal conduct that was not criminal when performed
after the fact; new laws cannot apply to people operating before the new law was passed

Bills of attainder allow the government to punish a party for a perceived crime without first going through the trial process

The amendment grants citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States" which included former slaves who had just been freed after the Civil War

the Supreme Court incorporated certain parts of certain amendments, rather than incorporating an entire amendment at once

Eminent domain; these amendments (BOR) contain no expression indicating an intention to apply them to the state governments. This court cannot so apply them

b. Congress and gov can’t punish you for free speech unless it’s a clear and present danger.

the Supreme Court invented the famous "clear and present danger" test to determine when a state could constitutionally limit an individual's free speech rights under the First Amendment

the Supreme Court established that speech advocating illegal conduct is protected under the First Amendment unless the speech is likely to incite “imminent lawless action.”

a landmark decision of the Supreme Court stating that burning the American flag was protected speech under the First Amendment to the Constitution, as doing so counts as symbolic speech and political speech

the power of a state, provincial, or national government to take private property for public use

"This is important/significant because..."

Similarities:Branches of government (both divide powers into legislative, judicial, and executive branches);Both items can be amended as well as a bill of rights. (ca has strong defense of property rights in there);Bicameral legislature

Differences: Federal is short and ca is long (has rules and architecture, catching fish, etc); Federal is unitary executive and ca is plural executive; president has veto but governor has the line item veto

Golden State Warriors