An Introduction to the California Constitution

One of the most studied areas of any legal system is the constitution of that country or state. California, as the fifth largest economy in the world by gross domestic product in 2026, is no different. California’s Constitution was first adopted in 1849 and then, again, in 1879. It is this second edition that remains in effect today.

Since that time, it has been amended hundreds of times and thousands of cases have resulted in numerous appellate court decisions that give guidance to interpreting the several hundred sections of the state Constitution.

That first California Constitution was published in English and Spanish. The 1879 revised version can be found in the Statutes of 1880. It was not until the 1960s that the California Legislature created a Constitutional Revision Commission. That Commission met for several years and ultimately placed several amendments on the November 1974 statewide ballot for approval by voters.

Similar to the federal level, the state’s hierarchy of laws begins with the Constitution, then below this governing document are statutes (enacted by the legislative branch), followed by regulations (adopted by the executive branch). Most observers view the California Constitution as providing greater protection of personal rights and liberties than the federal constitution. The state Constitution contains one of the first equal rights provisions among the states.

The California Constitution is often described as one of the longest in word count length, although the voters in 1948 removed about 14,500 words and, in 1976, voters removed about 40,000 words. The governing document has been amended by the voters over 500 times, most recently by Prop. 50 on the November 2025 special election ballot.

Although the California Constitution has over thirty articles, there are some that are “missing.” For example, there is no Article VIII or Article XVII. It also jumps from Article 22 to 34. In some of these Articles, sections are “missing.” For example, in Article IX, Sections 4, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 15 have been deleted. In other instances, .5 sections are used, such as in Article XIII, which has numbered sections 1 – 35, but actually contains 38 sections.