California Public Policy and Citizen Participation

Table of Contents


/Introduction/

This book and the sister course at Wikiversity teaches you how to get your voice heard in the government systems used in the State of California. It works with case studies which provide working examples in selected fields of advocacy. It will teach practical skills to clean up your neighborhood, get government to respond to the community and create a sustainable future.

The course has a slightly different name: California Government and_Citizen Participation and in case you are printing out the page the URL, in text, is http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/California_Government_and_Citizen_Participation.

Section I: What's So Special About California? Unique Aspects of Activism in the Golden State
Chapter 1: From the Bear Flag Republic to the Return of Governor Jerry Brown

Chapter 2: The (Ralph) Brown Act: Your Right to Know, Your Right to Speak Truth to Power

Chapter 3: Initiatives: The Good the Bad and the Ugly

Chapter 4: Agency Agendas and Public Comment

Section II: Special topics in California eco-activism
Chapter 5: Marine Protection Areas

Chapter 6: Overview of Water Resource Policy

Chapter 7: Overview of Nuclear Energy Policy

Section III: Mass Media, Corporate Concentration and Citizen News media
Chapter 8: Concentration in media

Chapter 9: Gary Webb and the San Jose Mercury-CIA Shake-up

Chapter 10: Alternative Media: California Indymedia, Wikinews

Section IV: Applications to Current Events
Chapter 11: The War on Drugs: Tax Cannabis or Close the Dispensaries?

Chapter 12: Homelessness


 * Solutions: The Warming Center Model
 * Solutions:Homeless Vulnerability Index

Section V: Creative Tools for Public Policy

 * Solutions: The Vulnerability Index

Appendix A: The California Public Records Act (Recommended reading: Tobacco war: Inside the California Battles By Stanton A. Glantz, Edith D. Balbach Using selections currently available on Google Books.)

Appendix B: Glossary