California has the worst of both worlds politically: All the drawbacks of a highly partisan electorate and political elite, without the advantages that come with strong parties.
That California combination – strong partisanship, weak parties – is part of what makes civic engagement, and thus governing, such a challenge in this state. Everyone is angry and partisan, but parties – which offer ways for people to come together and advance an agenda – are too weak to do much of anything.
In this context, the news out of this weekend’s GOP convention is good. Republicans, faced with a new form of open primary designed to further weaken the parties, decided to launch their own pre-primary of sorts, conducted by mail, to judge the party favorites in races.
This move has been criticized by moderates and others outside the party as an attempt by conservatives to keep power and impose rule. That may well be the thinking of those who pushed it, but it’s a good idea nonetheless.
Why? Two reasons.
First any extra effort a party makes to solicit the opinions and engage voters is useful in a state with a relatively disengaged electorate. LA Times columnist Tim Rutten this weekend went so far as to urge the end of non-partisan city elections as a way of re-engaging Angelenos who have stopped voting in local contests.
Second, voters in California often know very little about the people they are voting for, particularly in down ticket races. Party affiliation is perhaps the most important clue that people depend upon. If there are members of the party favored by party leadership (or by other Republican voters in the kind of mail survey the California GOP now envisions), that’s useful information for voters of all kinds to have. So they can vote for the establishment choice. Or against him.