We turn now to a study of the basic institutional context or infrastructure of tbe U.S. and California systems of government and politics. It is important to remember that the political process is "contextual." It operates within

a) a complex socio-cultural context that includes such factors as our predominant values, and the many regional as well as demographic variations.

b) a basic socio-economic setting, namely contemporary American capitalism in co-existence with an important but limited public sector (social services and other public goods, regulation).

A constitution sets down the fundamental, formal "rules of the game" for a political system. The U.S. Constitution was the outcome of a search for a "more perfect union" than had been provided by the first fundamental law, the Articles of Confederation. Your text (Wasserman, ch. 2) points to some of the impediments to an effective national government under the Articles. They failed to provide for

(1) a national executive - i.e., no president;

(2) a national power to impose taxes - i.e., financial dependence on the states;

Historically, political scientists distinguish among several stages of development of U.S. federalism, each showing its own characteristic balance or sharing of power. You should be able to distinguish between the following:

a) Relatively short and fairly general in most respects. The original document was only some 6,000 words - far shorter and less specific than most state constitutions, including that of California. This may well be one of its real strengths - see below under g).

j) A very high degree of popular legitimacy. We discussed the fact that the U.S. Constitution, which had been very controversial during the ratification stage, quickly gained an elevated, honorific status. Within the lifetime of most of the Founders, it gained a remarkable legitimacy (contrast France's experience with its 13 or more constitutions).

The following breakdown will give you a sense for the multiplicity of overlapping governmental institutions that exercise some authority within the United States. Altogether, there are

· All elected CA officials can be recalled.

· younger voters, between eighteen and twenty, in 1971 (A 26).

Some additional amendments can also be seen as promoting the value of civic equality - incl. two in 1913 that

· both emphasize a pattern of limited representative government

· both require a popularly elected chief executive

· The CA Constitution is relatively easy to amend, while the US Const. is very difficult to amend and prohibits direct popular input in the amendment process.

· provided for a federal income tax (A 16) and

· provided for the direct election of U.S. Senators (A 17).

Some common words found in the essay are:
Spain UK, CA Constitution, Characteristics Constitution, Articles Confederation, Marbury Madison, Civil War, Bill Rights, Constitutions Fall, Robert Dahl, United Altogether, national government, federal system, bill rights, · federalism, wasserman pp, judicial interpretation, · ca, civic equality, wasserman pp 25-28, separation powers, pp 25-28, wasserman chapter 2, · ca constitution, federalism provides opportunity, · federalism provides,
Approximate Word count = 3490
Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page double spaced)