Too Big to Fail? Reforming California's Constitution for the 21st Century

A Conference Sponsored by the Keston Institute at the School of Policy, Planning and
Development and the USC-CalTech Center for the Study of Law and Politics

University of Southern California Gould School of Law
February 16th and 17th, 2010
Faculty Lounge, Room 433

The Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy of the School of Policy Planning and Development and the Center for the Study of Law and Politics in the Gould School of Law at the University of Southern California will be hosting a conference on California’s governance problems and the possibility of structural reform by constitutional convention or revision.  The concept behind this effort is to get scholars who have thought deeply about political institutions, including many who have not focused directly on California, to share their reflections on what can be done to improve California’s state and local government and fiscal policy-making.

This event will be held on February 16 and 17, 2010 in the Faculty Lounge of the Musick Law Building on the USC Campus in Los Angeles.  The conference will consist of presentations and commentary on specific topics on February 16th, followed on the 17th by a general discussion of whether there is any consensus among us about a common path of reform.

The state’s fiscal crisis has once again spotlighted some of the distinctive problems with California’s constitution.  In the face of increasing political polarization, the state retains supermajority rules that lead to conflict and delay.  Term limits have eroded legislative expertise and the shortened members’ time horizons.  The initiative process, a simple majority mechanism, has been used to impose fiscal constraints and supermajority rules on representative government.  We have, in effect, turned classical democratic logic on its head and inverted democracy: simple majority rules for constitutional change and supermajority rules for policy-making. Moreover, all these factors interact with each other, exacerbating dysfunction and removing the option of one simple fix.   

While the popular discussion ranges broadly across all of California’s perceived problems, our focus will be on accountability and fiscal policy making.  Clearly, the shift to initiative policy-making signals a breakdown in trust in the legislature, but what kinds of reforms might restore legislative effectiveness and restore the perception that it is responsive to the majority?  No state will function very well when revenues drop precipitously, but what can be done to minimize the wild swings of fiscal cycles and provide adequate funding for critical state programs?

If you wish to attend, RSVP to Keith Stevenson at kstevens@law.usc.edu.