Special interests looking out only for themselves run state government, according to more than two-thirds of California voters. Capitol Weekly, a content partner of The Gualco Group, Inc., analyzed this most recent poll from the Public Policy Institute of California, which found 68% of the public feels “special interests” run things in the capital. Just 24% believe “the state is run for the benefit of all the people.”
“All the people” ARE special interests. Are you a sports fan? Are you active in PTA? Do you hunt or gamble or cook with only organic ingredients? Are your children in public schools? Private schools? Then you are a special interest, willingly or not. Special interests are parsed by occupation, too — physicians, nurses, Realtors, restaurants, trial lawyers, native Americans, farmers…pretty much everyone from anesthesiologists to zoology professors is represented by a “special interest.” Environmentalists and business owners are special interests, and highly niched ones at that, with many subgroups.
You get the idea. We are defined by our special interests. We are represented by our special interests. As former Assembly Speaker Cruz Bustamante put it so aptly in his acceptance speech after being sworn in to that august position, pluralistic representative democracy allows the “market place of ideas” to flourish. But we must remember to respect all legitimate interests and the inherent reality that compromise often, but not always, advances public policy. Indeed, some of the most profound decisions are made in the bump and grind of adversarial politics. The State Water Project, the decision to pursue a State climate change agenda, medical malpractice limitations, and national health care reform are but a few examples of bare knuckles decisions that are made with winners and losers the inevitable result.
While Sacramento was gridlocked for much of the past decade, there are profound signs of progress. Legislators now can spend up to a dozen years in one house and there is growing view of the need for policy expertise. Across-the-aisle compromise may follow, we all hope. The top two primary opens to door for surprising results. Let’s see what November provides for all of us in special interests.
Capitol Weekly’s editor John Howard’s trenchant analysis:
http://capitolweekly.net/survey-special-interests-rule-capitol/