Abstract
Political reform is a seemingly paradoxical concept, but it also happens to be a category of public policy. Political reform is paradoxical in the sense that political systems are inherently political, so any attempt to make these systems apolitical is fraught with false assumptions. Yet, reformers have advocated for a myriad of public policies they allege would reform our system democratic governance. While political scientists have studied these policies at _the idiosyncratic level, no body of research exists that takes an aggregate view of these policies. I begin to bridge this knowledge gap by distilling the policy goals of modern political reform attempts in California. To accomplish this task, I analyze the arguments in favor of political reform ballot measures placed before voters from 1970 to 2008. I find that the concerns of highest priority to reformers are empowering citizens, reducing the influence of special interests, reducing the disproportionate power of incumbents, political parties, or party leaders, enhancing electoral representation, and promoting more effective policymaking. I then discuss the implications of achieving these goals through public policy.