Next CA Blog — By the People

06/30/11 by Kati Koster

Viewpoint: A Graduate Student at the Deliberative Poll

A historic event took place in Southern California last weekend, an experiment in deliberative democracy. From June 24-26, more than 400 registered California voters descended onto Marriott South Bay Hotel in Torrance for the first ever statewide Deliberative Poll in California. Read More »

05/27/11 by Dan Werner

Welcome to What’s Next

What's Next California is a launching point for a new online and face-to-face conversation to find out what citizens want from and for their government. It is unprecedented attempt to bring the people into the processes of improving California's government Read More »

How does the poll work? Learn More

State-Local Reform

Local governments – counties, cities, and "special districts" such as school districts – provide many of the services that we use on a daily basis, from schools and police protection to the water in our faucets and the collection of our trash. Californians expect local governments to produce high-quality services, as cost-effectively as possible. Read More

Taxation & Fiscal Policy

The way state and local governments collect public revenue for public services has come under increased scrutiny during our state’s recent fiscal crisis, as has the question of what California can afford. The tradeoff between funding for essential services and their inevitable pocketbook implications makes tax policy a constant cause of controversy. Read More

Initiative Process

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the creation of California’s initiative process, a system designed to put lawmaking power in the hands of the people. The initiative allows voters, often acting in organized groups, to collect signatures in order to put a new law or a change to the state constitution before their fellow voters on the ballot. Read More

Representation

With one Assembly member for every 467,000 residents and one state Senator for every 934,000 residents, our legislative districts are nearly ten times the national average. When assemblymembers represent nearly half a million residents and travel long distances across their districts, direct interactions with constituents are scarce. Read More

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