| Forty years after its inception, experts and citizens alike are questioning the wisdom and efficacy of California's professional legislature. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the development, current state, and future of the California Legislature as an institution with special attention to the relationship between "professionalization" and republican governance. This dissertation is a study incorporating interviews with 46 sitting California Legislators and an analysis of statistics of California legislative trends over time. Attention will be paid to the relevant political history of the state, particularly the institutional transformations of the legislature, and to the political-philosophical influences that made these transformations possible. Where appropriate, references to and comparisons with other state legislatures will be made.;The current malaise of the legislature is the product of many factors: the impact of federally mandated reapportionment laws, misguided political and structural reforms within the state coupled with a diverse and dynamic citizenry that is confused about what it can and should expect from government. These complications are the legacy of the Progressive movement in the Golden State: a professional legislature is simultaneously the logical consequence of and incompatible with Progressive political theory, particularly its emphasis on direct democracy.;The goal of this dissertation is to provide an examination of the current state of the California Legislature, how it arrived at this point, and to provide specific recommendations for improvement along with the theoretical arguments necessary to defend those recommendations.;Californians are disinclined to return to a part-time, citizen legislature, but they are also dissatisfied with the current structure. By returning to restricted annual legislative sessions and biannual budgets, increasing the amount of time members spend within their districts, increasing the membership of both houses, and relaxing term limits, for instance, the institution can remain professional but become more representative, more accessible and more accountable. In conjunction with these modifications an improved civic education must be effected across the state. The only way to improve governance in California is to educate the public, as Publius did prior to the ratification of the US Constitution, about the potential and limitations of free government. |
