The Golden State not only faces unprecedented demographic and economic changes, but does so with a governance system that is fundamentally broken, and arguably incapable of implementing the policy reforms that are so clearly needed. Recognizing this, the New America Foundation joined the What's Next California coalition to convene a deliberative poll with a scientifically selected random sample of California's registered voters. On June 24th, 412 Californians from throughout the state participated in California's first ever statewide Deliberative Poll on governance reform.
The poll results, which were released in full this week, show that Californians want real oversight of elected officials, a strong and clear initiative process, and more power for local governments. The poll demonstrated that Californians are willing to engage and think critically on these issues if given an opportunity to make their opinions heard.
Along this theme, we invite you to join us on September 21st, at 7 p.m. in San Francisco, for "How Do We Put The People Back in The Initiative Process?" At this Zócalo/New America Foundation "Connecting California Event," held in partnership with the Bill Lane Center for the American West, a panel of experts from California and around the world will explore how new technology and new research suggest a variety of ways that democracy might be returned to the people.
To learn more about What's Next California and the deliberative poll, please click here or visit the Facebook page.
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