California Internet
Resources with Exercises
| California is known as "Bellwether" state, meaning that trends
in the state can indicate coming trends in other states. The state looms large not
only in the American psyche, but also, through movies, has done much to personify the
American Dream for people world wide. California is known for both its conservative
and liberal forces, as personified through former governors Ronald Reagan, and
"Jerry" Brown respectively. Contributing to its political power is its
sheer population size, making up one of the largest electoral college voting
blocs. Despite threats of earthquakes, mudslides and other challenges, people have
long fled to California in hopes of finding a better life. California's continued fast
growth has helped spurn its latest crisis - the energy crisis. The governor's web
site has two great resources, which should be checked out to gain perspective on
California politics.
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Suggested Exercises
Perception and Reality
Jot down perceptions you have about California politics and government
structure, based on what you have read, heard, and seen in newscasts, literature,
and popular culture.
Explore the information presented in the above two links, then jot down
your impressions again, based on your new findings.
Explore the state and local links below, along with media links, then
respond to the following questions:
(You should be examining the structure, dynamics and interworkings of state government,
and interactions between state, regional and local governments.)
How is reality jiving with your preconceptions?
How well does does the media report on state and local government?
What are some of the more effective and ineffective governmental
apparatuses found?
Other Possible Exercises
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Resource Finders
- A Guide for Accessing California
Legislative Information on the Internet
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/guide.html
Prepared by The Legislative Counsel State of
California
Encyclopędia Britannica Entry
http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/6/0,5716,121346+18,00.html
State and Local Government on the Net: California
http://www.piperinfo.com/state/state_detail.cfm?state=California
State Level
Resources
California State Constitution
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/const-toc.html
California Home Page
http://www.state.ca.us
California Government Site
http://www.ca.gov
Governor of California
http://www.governor.ca.gov/
Governors of California
http://www.infospect.com/Governors.htm
California State Assembly
http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/defaulttext.asp
California State Senate
http://www.senate.ca.gov/
California Courts
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/
Invitation to Comment on
California Court Reform Proposals
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/invitationstocomment/
FindLaw-California
http://lawcrawler.findlaw.com/ca.html
California Democratic Party
http://www.ca-dem.org/dems/cadems.nsf/index
California Republican Party
http://www.cagop.org/
exercises
California League of Cities
http://www.cacities.org/
- Association of (San Francisco) Bay Area Governments
http://www.abag.ca.gov/home.html
- "The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) is one
of more than 560 regional planning agencies across the nation working to help solve
problems in areas such as land use, housing, environmental quality, and economic
development."
- GovGuide
http://www.govguide.org/
- Guide to governments in Silicon Valley.
Bay Area Cities
http://www.abag.ca.gov/abag/local_gov/city/city.html
- Local Government Commission
http://www.lgc.org/lgc/welcome.html
- Serving as a complement to the League of California Cities
and the California State Association of Counties, the LGC provides peer networking
opportunities, acts as an interface between city and county officials, and provides
practical policy ideas for addressing serious environmental and social problems.
- California City Directory
http://www.piperinfo.com/state/state_detail.cfm?state=California#Cities
California County Directory
http://www.piperinfo.com/state/state_detail.cfm?state=California#Counties
California Regional Government Directory
http://www.piperinfo.com/state/state_detail.cfm?state=California#Regional
exercises
California News Media resources
http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/resources/
California News and Newspapers Online
http://library.uncg.edu/news/nq-state.asp?dbreg=na&dbstate=ca
- Capitol Alert
http://www.capitolalert.com/
- A division of The Sacramento Bee.
exercises
California Voter Foundation
http://www.calvoter.org/
California League of Women Voters
http://ca.lwv.org/
Internet Resources for California Citizens
http://www.calvoter.org/links.html#localgovt
San Francisco Voter
http://sfvoter.com/
Rough & Tumble California Politics
http://www.rtumble.com/
exercises
Hot Issues
California
Energy Crisis
- California League of Cities on the California Energy
Crisis
http://www.cacities.org/doc.asp?intParentID=25
- Leads to many important articles
- Electricity Load Curtailment Procedures
http://www.cacities.org/doc.asp?intParentID=1882
- Based upon the State Department of General Services
Administrative Manual for Energy Management in State Facilities During Wintertime
Electrical Emergencies issued December 6, 2000.
- California's Energy
Challenge
http://www.ca.gov/state/portal/myca_htmldisplay.jsp?BV_SessionID...
- Report published by the
governor.
Energy Information Clearinghouse
http://www.lgc.org/energy/welcome.html
- The site "is intended to provide community leaders with
up-to-date information on energy efficiency, renewable energy resources, utility
restructuring, and more."
California Voter Foundation Guide California Energy Crisis Links
http://www.calvoter.org/cvfnews/cvfnews020101.html
Yahoo Guide to California Energy Crisis
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/Business/Utility_Industry_Deregulation
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- California League of Cities Legislative Issue Areas
http://www.cacities.org/doc.asp?intParentID=689
- Great place to track legislation by issue area.
exercises
Governor Gray Davis
mailto:governor@governor.ca.gov
California State Assembly Directory
http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/acsframeset7text.htm
California State Senate Directory
http://www.senate.ca.gov/~newsen/senators/senators.htp
The Legislative Counsel State of California
comments@leginfo.public.ca.gov
California State Agency Index
http://www.governor.ca.gov/state/portal/myca_htmldisplay.jsp?s...
California Government Gateway
http://www.governor.ca.gov/state/portal/myca_leftnav_categories.jsp?BV_SessionID...
League of California Cities
okabel@cacities.org
League of
California Cities Legislative Watch Contacts
http://www.cacities.org/doc.asp?intParentID=689
exercises |