Hist 124 Response Paper

Book Title : California an Interpretive History

Chapter Number : 21

Week Number : 6

Textbook pages consulted : p.269 to p.280

Reaction paper Question Number ONE : Explain the major reforms achieved by the Republican progressives in California.

        The Republican Progressives consisted of politician who organized the Lincoln-Roosevelt Republican movement, and they mainly concerned about to participate in public sectors, and how to renovate the old system in terms of economic and political views.

        As an economical reform, first, according to the demand of groups of shippers and merchants to stabilize their business, John M. Eshleman, who was in charge of newly setting the railroad commission, gave the commission effective power to regulate rates and to terminate the extortionate and exclusive authority of the Southern Pacific, which had dominated railroad industry for many decades. Moreover, another reform was assigned to regulate the rates charged by all other utilities. These two reforms provided California with the most comprehensive system of public utility regulation in the country.

        Secondly, the purpose of political reform was mainly for providing two methods of direct participation by the people in the lawmaking process: the recall election, which give citizens power to remove an elected official before the end of his term, the referendum, which allow citizens to decide on a low by popular vote, and the initiative that enable citizens to propose a law by petition and enact it by popular vote. In addition, in 1911, they introduced woman suffrage, which advanced gender equality in participating in political issues.        

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