Local news is our core obsession here at California Local. But just as significant to our daily life is the state’s complex system of governance, which—like the United States itself—is divided into three branches. The legislative branch makes laws, the governor has the power to execute those laws, and the state’s multi-level judicial system interprets the laws and passes judgment on those who break them.
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By Sharan Street
Published Nov 28, 2022
The California Constitution, as it looked in 1849.
Image credit: California State Archives
Public Domain
11-28-22: Living Document
Conquests and Constitutions
All of this is outlined in the California Constitution. Unlike its national counterpart, which has been amended just 27 times, California’s 1879 document has been tinkered with more than 500 times. As California Local writer Jonathan Vankin notes, it is the eighth-wordiest constitution in the world. Naturally, there’s a complicated history behind how it came into being, and Vankin surveys it all, from the Napoleonic era to the present. Serving as a companion piece is an article recently published by California Local Media Alliance member Monterey County Weekly, in which writer David Schmaltz looks at one particular moment in time on the road to California becoming part of the United States.
California’s Governmental Structure: From Chaos to Compromise
California's government was born out of utter chaos. Here's how the state developed some sort of order to the way it operates, and how it makes and enforces laws.
David Schmaltz outlines a pivotal point in California history in his Monterey County Weekly cover story on the Battle of Natividad.
