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The proposition system came out of a liberal movement in the mid-20th century in an effort to give Californians more control, direct control, over their government.

And the system was an excellent method to discern people's basic desires and fears. For example, big spending iniatives were often passed and big taxing iniatives were rarely passed. And bigoted propositions, usually aimed at gays and Hispanics, often passed as well.

But it was terrible at actually governing the world's 8th largest economy. The state congresspeople, who are often demonized and have had much of their power stripped from them, are seemingly far more fit at balancing the state's spending, taxing, and surrounding economic matters because they're steeped in the knowledge of California's economy. If a congressperson wants to lower taxes, he or she knows it's going to mean making big cuts. If a congressperson wants to spend on some matter- education, healthcare, roads, etc- he or she knows that some segment of society will be taxed in some way.

The congressperson is more likely to view the economy as a living thing that with the benefit of a program or a tax-cut comes the detriment elsewhere, inspiring a degree of value and jurisprudence. And we've taken away their power to empower "ourselves" (we, being the voter) who have shown our own brand of jurisprudence by ridding ourselves of taxes or even the possibility of being taxed in the future while embracing the spending programs aimed at helping Californians in multifold ways. If we could only vote away the resultant deficit, we probably would do that too.

I only have one vote in a proposition system. And I know I trust myself and my own judgment because I'm a frequent voter. I don't really distrust my intelligence or good judgment; I find that a strange comment to levy after reading my posts.

The question becomes: What measures could be put forward to make California a healthier-functioning democracy? The proposition system has proven effective at discerning Californian's desires and fears (we like government-funded programs and we hate taxes and minorities), but it has shown little ability to actually balance those desires with the real world.

But I don't want to give you the impression that this is the only problem with California's system of governance. This is one of many.