California Democracy

What is democracy? And most importantly is the United States and California Democratic? One of the first societies that exercised democracy was Athens. The Athenian people were democratic and valued political affairs. Thought out 594 B.C.E to 338 B.C.E democracy in Athens flourished. To the Greeks, democracy meant that the people ruled (L). Now we define democracy as popular sovereignty. Popular sovereignty is when the people are the ultimate source of authority and the government does their bidding. In other words, the majority rules and the policies reflect the peoples desires. Political equality means each person has to carry the same weight in voting and other political decisions. Political liberty gives the basic freedoms essential to
The California constitution has been amended several times. The progressive era in 1911 led to one 500 changes to the California constitution. During the progressive era in 1902 to 1919, child labor laws and conservation policies were adopted (Field, Pg. 23). There is open primary which is more democratic because less extremum, anyone has access to vote for who they want as a representative initiative, adopted in 1911, allow people to have direct impact on law making. “progressives were the direct democracy powers that ballot box, as well as to recall elected officials from office through a special election” (Field, Pg. 23). Therefore, the progressive era made the California constitution more democratic. Both the U.S. constitution and the California constitution are very similar, however the California constitution references property acquisition, safety, and privacy unlike the U.S.
For instance, when the constitution was made there were no term limits. California term limit adopted in 1990, has contributed to a rise in minority representation. One example, Latino legislators increased from 6% in 1990 to 23% today (L). After the term limit racial diversity in the state legislator has expanded. To ensure equal representation in the house there should be equal number of people. The term limit for the State legislators is six years, in the Assembly they serve eight years in the Senate. They can serve a maximum of 14 years in the legislature (L). Therefore, term limits give the voters a real choice of candidates. Non-partisan organization helps people participate more effectively in their communities and government affairs. Non-partisan organization helps implement public policy improve the relationship between the voter and the candidates.
 A few years after the U.S. constitution was made they strongly focused on social and economic reform to improve the economy. America has a capitalist economy, therefore, productivity and distributions of goods and services are a priority. The United States has a wealthy economy however, it produces a substantial income and wealth inequality. America is known to be one of the richest developed country that does not redistribute its wealth to its people. A study in 2010 states, that 15% of Americans were officially below the government poverty