This presentation has information about the California recall election of 2003.

To recall, by definition, means to bring back or to summon to return. Imagine if there was a product in which a car company or food label made a mistake that posed a safety hazard. They would recall, or ask to bring back, this product. Our government works in a similar way- if we don't like our elected officials, we call them back.

Our story begins with this man, incumbent governor of California, Gray Davis. As you can see, he looks professional; great hair, beautiful eyes, the whole works. There was only one problem: people didn’t like him.

Many claim that this man was responsible for the 2000-2001 electricity blackouts all along the west coast, initiated by the signing of contract with the company Enron, who was later discovered to have instigated illegal activities in the name of profit. This election also brought Davis's inherent negativity to the forefront of public mind; his pessimistic appearances lacked the confidence that citizens wanted to see in their leader. But most glaring was the fact that California's economy when Gray Davis entered governorship was at a surplus of $12bn, which soon became $38bn in deficit. Davis's $50bn expenditures hurt the people's morale, which was not helped when he tripled car taxes.

So the obvious answer is to recall him, right? In reality, the process of a recall election is not so easy. In California history, there have been 31 attempts to remove governors from office, of which Reagan was involved in three. Throughout all of US history, only one recall election had been successful: that of Lynn Frazier of North Dakota in 1921. California is different in its recall laws in that they do not require "misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance" for officials to recalled. In other words, no evidence of wrongdoing is needed to remove them-- only the dissatisfaction of their citizens.

There are two parts to the California recall election process. The first is whether or not the citizen believes the current official should be recalled. The second asks the citizen to pick a candidate they would want to replace the current official.

Even though there were about 135 candidates in the 2003 election, the bottom line was that the competition was really between Arnold Schwarzenegger (seen here at his best) and incumbent governor Gray Davis (seen here not, perhaps, as dashing as Arnold).

In the first part of the election, 55% of voters supported recall while 45% opposed it.

Here in the second part, Schwarzenegger won the clear majority of the 135 candidates that were considered (though this chart shows only the top four).

It's strange, when analyzing the facts and figures, that Schwarzenegger won. First of all, Schwarzenegger was a professional Republican politician for exactly 62 days before he won governorship on October 7, 2003, compared to Davis's 30-years of experience as a Democrat.

Additionally, Schwarzenegger's political naivety was apparent in almost all of his actions. Initially, he had no campaign theme, little staff, and even less planning, making it difficult for Californians to take him seriously. Furthermore, his official announcement of his entrance into the political world was done on none other than the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. It didn't help him that soon afterwards forty-one women accused him of having previously made unwarranted sexual advances.

And yet Schwarzenegger won a clear majority. Some of his shining points included his charisma, wealth, and celebrity status. His years of bodybuilding competitions and an acting career had enabled him understand what people liked and what people wanted. Additionally, his socially liberal views were welcome in California, though this fiscally conservative views also appealed to many, especially in light of Davis's extreme spending habits. However, it was not just Schwarzenegger himself that pulled this through. His wife, Maria Shriver, was the daughter of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the sister of former president John F. Kennedy. Schwarzenegger's wife is, by all means, "political nobility" and her experience in the political world gained Arnold connections and advice that he could not have gleaned with anyone else. Finally, the general dislike for Davis's term made people seek out simply anybody else who was eligible for the job.

The essential question involves considering just how the recall election embodies the US's democratic ideals. The fact that a government official could be removed and replaced by a man who was arguably much less qualified for the job clearly demonstrates that the power of government truly lies with people of a state (or and extension, a nation). And what is democracy but the power to the people?